Parents who keep their children at home instead of sending them to Orange City Council childcare services during lockdown might get a fee waived.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A staff report to council's meeting on Tuesday night has recommended council follow about 20 other councils in waiving the gap fee paid by families.
It said, based on the first week of lockdown, it would cost council more than $20,000 a week.
Gap fees are only waived for families when the child does not attend care.
- Report to Orange council
"The cost to council will depend on the number of families who keep their children at home during the lockdown period," it said.
"Attendance at council facilities in week one of lock down was 37 per cent.
"Based on total revenue from parents per week being $38,112.94 the cost to council to waive fees for 63 per cent of families who kept their children at home is $24,011.
"The Australian government has recently announced support for child care providers where they will be paid 25 per cent of their pre-lockdown revenue and 40 per cent for out of school hours.
"The mechanics for claiming the support are yet to be released.
"This will reduce the impact on council."
It said the fee waiving only applied to areas which were designated 'hotspots' for at least seven days except in special circumstances.
"Gap fees are only waived for families when the child does not attend care," it said.
"Providers have the option to waive all the gap fee or any part thereof.
"Orange Family Day Care providers collect gap fees from families with children attending their service.
"There will be no financial impact to council if gap fees are waived for Family Day Care families.
"However, Orange Family Day Care providers will not be eligible to waive gap fees if council does not approve the option to waive gap fees, due the contractual obligations of Orange Family Day Care with council."
It said of all the NSW councils eligible to waive the gap fee prior to this week, 21 had responded to a survey saying they have waived the gap fee.
"Twenty of those Councils reported waiving the total gap fee," it said.
"Most councils across NSW that have made the decision to waive the gap fee have done so on a week by week basis with families deciding at the beginning of week their decision to keep their children at home for that week."
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.centralwesterndaily.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Catch up on our news headlines at Google News