Consumable fees are charges that cover the cost of additional services and items used by children in your setting. These are separate from your standard or local authority (LA) funded hourly rates and can be applied to any contract type.
For standard contracts, you are free to set fees as you see fit, in line with your Fees & Admissions Policy and through agreement with parents.
For funded contracts, all additional charges must comply with Department for Education (DfE) guidance. This means fees must be optional, linked to actual costs (like meals or nappies), and not used to top up hourly funding rates.
The rules
From January 2026, all invoices for funded placements must show a clear breakdown of charges. This must include:
Funded hours (free to parents, at £0/hr)
Additional hours charged directly to parents
Optional additional service charges that have been agreed with parents
Tiney invoices will display this breakdown clearly, and there's more information on this, and other relevant rules, here.
Should I charge for consumables?
Government funding is designed to cover childcare and education only. It is not calculated to cover:
Meals and snacks (breakfast, lunch, tea, or healthy snacks).
Essential extras (such as nappies, wipes, sun cream, or barrier cream).
Enrichment (paid outings, soft play entry, or external classes).
If you provide these for free, your actual "take-home" hourly rate is lower than it needs to be. As children progress into higher age bands, the hourly rate you receive for their funded care will decrease, making these hidden costs even harder to absorb.
What can I charge for?
You can charge for specific, itemised extras used by the child. You cannot charge “top-up fees” to bridge the gap between your private rate and the LA rate: this includes any unspecified fees applied to all funded hours.
Category | What it includes | The Rule |
Consumables | Food, nappies, wipes, sun cream. | Chargeable. Parents can choose to pay or provide their own. |
Additional Activities | Outings, visitors, specialist classes. | Chargeable. Must be optional for the parent. |
Statutory Items | Toys, craft supplies, and cleaning equipment. | Not Chargeable. These must be covered by the hourly rate and are regarded as the cost of running a business. |
To update your fees in the tiney app, go to Business Settings from the Account Menu in the top-right corner. There, you can add any consumable or activity fees relevant to your offer.
These will auto-fill into any future contracts you create, but can be edited per child.
Staying Compliant: The "Opt-Out" Rule
The government rule for funded places is that charges must be voluntary. You cannot make them a condition of taking up a funded place.
Parents can opt out of extras:
Meals: they bring a packed lunch (in line with your healthy eating policy)
Consumables: they supply their own nappies, wipes, and cream
Outings: you offer a free alternative (like the local park), or absorb the cost and claim it as an allowable expense
The reality of running a small setting
Managing opt-outs case by case is hard, and you shouldn't feel like you have to. Every nursery charges for these extras. It's completely normal.
For families where affordability is genuinely a barrier, you have the “allowable expenses” option: You absorb the fee for parents who are unable to pay for consumables, and claim the cost as an allowable expense on your tax return.
3 Steps to Strengthen Sustainability
Most parents are happy to contribute once they understand what they're paying for. Here's how to make it straightforward for everyone.
Analyse your outgoings: Consider exactly how much you spend on food, nappies, etc per child. You might be surprised by the total. Ensure you factor in tiney fee with calculations.
Consider all the costs of providing meals - the ingredients, including oil and butter, breakfast, snack, tea, and hot dinners. Remember to add the costs of your labour and tiney fee. For example, this could tally up to £7.5 per child on a full-time day
Consider the daily costs of nappies, wipes, and sunscreen (based on the child’s age and use). For example, this could tally up to £3 per day per child using nappies.
Activities - cost of the outing + fuel or other transport + your labour of researching and planning the activity + tiney fee
Be Transparent: Update your Fees and Admissions Policy to list these optional charges clearly, and share with existing families and new families when they join your setting.
Use our - Funding: Additional Fees Explainer for childminders- a guide to support your discussions with parents so they understand they are paying for "extras," not for the "funded hours" themselves.
Here’s an example message about an outing: “We’re planning a trip to the local farm as part of our theme on farm animals this term. We need at least [4] families to opt in for the trip to go ahead. Please let me know by [Wednesday] if you’d like to join”.
Use our General Consumables and Additional Charges Policy - A brief guide to share with parents on how and why you will charge consumables fees.
The Bottom Line
Charging for consumables isn't about being expensive; it’s about making sure your business is sustainable. By itemising these costs, you ensure you aren't paying out of your own pocket to provide food, additional services, and resources for the children in your care.