Thank you for contacting me about the impact of coronavirus on childcare.
This pandemic has been a difficult time for us all, and I know childcare providers have been put under unusual pressures too. As such I am pleased that throughout the pandemic Ministers have taken significant steps to support childcare providers. A range of support has been made available, including a business rates holiday for one year and continuation of full funding until the end of 2020, despite lower attendance rates. Broader support schemes, such as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, have also been available to childcare providers.
Early years settings continue to benefit from a planned £3.6 billion in funding for the 2020/21 financial year, to create free early education and childcare places. A further £44 million will be invested for the 2021/22 financial year, which will increase the hourly funding rates for all local authorities - by 8p an hour for the 2 year old entitlement and, for the vast majority of areas, by 6p an hour for the 3 and 4 year old entitlement. This will pay for a rate increase that is higher than the costs nurseries may face from the uplift to the national living wage in April 2020.
The Government has announced a return to funding early years settings for the spring term on the basis of attendance, as measured by the January 2021 census. To support local authorities technical advice has been issued on how the census should be run this year.
In summary, children who are ill or self-isolating can be counted, as can those whose parents have temporarily withdrawn their children from open nurseries and childminders out of caution, and so long as the parent/guardian has not altered their parental declaration relating to expected hours with the provider. Children should not be counted in the census where a setting has closed or restricted attendance, unless as a result of situations as set out in the supporting technical advice eg. staff sickness, COVID-19 isolation, staff shielding.
During the lockdown, childminders can stay open to vulnerable children and the children of key workers.
Childminders have been able to access the Self-employment Income Support Scheme.
For the self-employed, including childminders, the minimum income floor will also be temporarily relaxed, meaning Universal Credit can be accessed at a rate to match statutory sick pay.
Early years providers have also been able to access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). Most providers receive income from private ‘parent paid’ hours and government early entitlement funding. Providers have been able to use the CJRS to cover up to the proportion of their pay bill which could be considered to have come from their private income.
For example, if a provider’s average monthly income is 40 per cent from early entitlement funding and 60 per cent from other income, the provider could claim CJRS support for up to 60 per cent of their pay bill. This would be done by furloughing staff whose usual salary/combined salaries come to no greater than 60 per cent of the provider’s total pay bill.
I understand that childcare providers may have concerns about the safety of staying open during the lockdown. Let me assure you that, as the Prime Minister has said, education settings are not unsafe for children or staff. Scientific advice has consistently shown that education workers are at no greater risk of contracting coronavirus compared to other key workers and professions. There is evidence that younger children are less likely than their counterparts in primary and secondary schools to spread the virus. It also remains the case that the work done already to implement protective measures in early years settings, such as increased cleaning and reducing 'pinch points', has created an inherently safer environment for staff to work in.
Settings will need to adopt measures to reduce the risk of transmission. These measures include avoiding contact with anyone with symptoms, frequent hand washing and good hygiene practices, regular cleaning of settings and minimising contact and mixing by keeping children in small consistent groups.
Those individuals who are clinically extremely vulnerable are advised to work from home and not to go into work. Individuals in this group will have been identified through a letter from the NHS or from their GP, and may have been advised to shield in the past.
All other staff should continue to attend work, including those living in a household with someone who is clinically extremely vulnerable.
Wearing a face covering or face mask in childcare settings is not recommended. Based on current evidence and the measures that early years settings are already putting in place, face coverings are not necessary when adults are interacting with children, even where social distancing is not possible. Face coverings may have a negative impact on interactions between staff and children, and their use when interacting with children in this settings should be avoided.
In situations where social distancing between adults in settings is not possible (e.g. when moving around in corridors and communal areas), settings have the discretion to recommend the use of face coverings for adults on site, both staff and visitors.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
Craig Whittaker MP
February 2021