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The Ministry of Education has said there are no clear rules on exactly how far childcare centres can go to defray the costs of offering 20 free hours of education.
Education Minister Steve Maharey and ministry officials were questioned on the policy yesterday as they fronted up to the education and science select committee to examine the Budget allocation for education.
Asked if centres were allowed to raise their fees significantly for hours that 3 and 4-year-olds were enrolled above the 20 free hours, ministry senior policy manager Karl Le Quesne said there were no rules but centres would be monitored.
"We've walked centres through the rules. The rules are that for the first 20 hours there can be no fees, although you can levy optional charges and donations. What we've said about the hours outside of the free hours is that the Government isn't setting any rules on that at this point. It's up to you how you set your fees."
National spokeswoman on early education Paula Bennett asked Mr Maharey if he condoned advice in a newsletter by Anthony Gilbert, whose business sells childcare centres, that centres introduce minimum seven hours a day enrolments and put hefty charges on time children were at centres over the 20 hours.
When asked if Mr Gilbert's advice was outside the rules, Mr Maharey said it was "irrelevant ... the way you define the thing is the rules in the booklet".
Ms Bennett told the Herald the refusal to provide any clearer guidance left centres uncertain of what they could do. "It's little wonder centres are confused. One minute centres are told to follow the rules and the next they're told there are no rules."
She said it opened them up to ministry sanction later if it was decided they were in breach of the funding rules.
The policy has been criticised by several childcare centres in main cities, including KidiCorp centres, which say the funding falls short of their costs and leaves them to treat the funding as a subsidy, rather than as free hours.
Mr Maharey defended the level of funding, saying while it would be reviewed next year, a survey last year showed Auckland's costs were actually less than the national average.
He said it would save parents on average $60 to $80 a week, per child.
Mr le Quesne said the rates were based on the average cost of running a childcare centre, after a survey of all early childcare centres.
A geographical breakdown of costs in the survey showed Auckland's average costs per child was $5.94 an hour, compared with the national average of $6.09, he said. Christchurch was highest, at $6.96 an hour, and Wellington was $6.54.
Auckland's lower costs came as a surprise, but "in the geographical differences, there was no strong evidence there for us to have geographical rates".
Mr Le Quesne said he was satisfied with the adequacy of the survey, which 56 per cent of centres responded to, saying advice from a statistician indicated a 25 per cent response was enough.
Mr Maharey refused to say how many centres had signed up for the policy, which starts on July 1.
