Early years providers need funding to cope with second coronavirus lockdown, sector leaders say
Fiona Simpson
Monday, November 2, 2020
The government must properly fund early years settings to stay open during a planned second Covid-19 lockdown amid fears over a “fall in demand for childcare provision”, sector leaders have said.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Saturday (31 October) that early years settings, including nurseries and childminders, will stay open along with schools, colleges and universities, despite a second national lockdown due to be imposed in England on Thursday (5 November).
However, the closure of hospitality venues, gyms and non-essential shops means that the sector will see a fall in demand for childcare leading to a loss of income, Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance has said.
He highlighted the need for more funding for the sector which was hit by a string of blows since March and throughout the first lockdown.
"We know that many nurseries, pre-schools and childminders across the country are already struggling to remain viable as a result of the combined impact of the pandemic and historic underfunding, and that many would not have been able to survive another order to temporarily close,” he said.
“That said, it is highly likely that the need and demand for childcare provision will nevertheless fall once again over the coming months, resulting in another fall in income for many early years providers. It is therefore critical that the government provides the financial support the sector needs to get through the upcoming lockdown and beyond, if it is to survive in the long term.”
Leitch also called for improved access to personal protective equipment (PPE) and testing for the sector.
"What’s more, given we are being asked to remain open at such a frightening and worrying time, it's vital that early years providers are able to feel confident that they can keep themselves, their staff, the children in their care and their own families safe.
"For this to happen, government must ensure that all providers have priority access to Covid testing, including home tests; affordable access to PPE; and support with the costs of keeping their settings as clean as possible. Our sector is putting itself on the frontline in the middle of a global pandemic – anything less is simply not acceptable,” Leitch said.
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association, echoed calls for funding but praised the extension of the furlough scheme until December.
She said: “It will be a relief for early years providers and families that childcare will not be directly affected by the national lockdown during November. It’s vital for children’s development that they can continue with their early education and have the stability provided by continuity of care.
“However, more should be done to support childcare providers at this time to ensure they are able to remain open and provide that support for children and families who will still need to access childcare places. Demand is already lower than normal due to the pandemic, while enhanced safety measures are seeing running costs rise.
“Although we welcome the return of the full flexible furlough scheme, which is good for both nurseries and their employees, the delays in testing are causing serious staffing issues for nurseries. We would like to see local authorities supporting the childcare sector through the £1bn business support fund announced by the Chancellor.”
Meanwhile, the announcement that schools and colleges will remain open has divided opinion across the sector.
Children’s commissioner for England, Anne Longfield, welcomed the announcement, saying on Twitter: “We've always said that schools should be the last to shut and first to open.
"It would be a disaster for children's wellbeing and education if they were to close."
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said it was “right” to keep schools open, however, he called for clarity from the government on plans surrounding schools if Covid-19 infection rates continued to rise.
He said: “While scaling back the opening of schools is clearly a last resort, this rapidly deteriorating situation of growing transmission rates may mean that some restrictions will become necessary sooner rather than later, such as implementing the rota system in secondary schools suggested in the government’s own contingency planning.
“The government needs to set out the circumstances which would trigger such restrictions in order to provide clarity and confidence – for pupils, parents and staff – that it has a robust and responsive plan in place.”
However, the National Education Union (NEU) has said keeping schools open could “lead to another lockdown”.
A petition launched by the union calling for the closure of schools and colleges has been signed by more than 150,000 teachers and school support staff in just 48 hours.
NEU joint general secretary Kevin Courtney said: “We are worried this will just lead to another lockdown later. We think it will not work if schools are not included.”
Meanwhile, in a joint press conference, Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, and Liverpool’s mayor, Steve Rotheram, backed calls for school closures.
Burnham said: “It’s my view, and it’s shared by Steve, that we do need to see a period of closure in our schools if we are to get those cases right down, and if we are to avoid a scenario where large parts of the north-west [of England] are simply put back in tier 3 coming out of this.”
The Prime Minister will lay plans before MPs later today (2 November) ahead of a vote on Wednesday. Restrictions are expected to come into force from one minute past midnight on Thursday.
