Fury over ‘absurd’ exclusion of childminders from Covid-19 home testing

The government is rolling out the home testing kits to the families and childcare bubbles of school age children.

From this week any member of a household, childcare or support bubble of primary and secondary school staff and pupils can get a twice weekly home testing kit, known as rapid lateral flow testing.

• Related news: Early years leaders slam omission of staff from latest vaccination plans

• Related news: Schools to reopen from 8 March with PVI nurseries included in mass testing

But families of younger children supported by England’s 34,000 childminders are not included, in a move that has been criticised by the Early Years Alliance.

EYA chief executive Neil Leitch says the exclusion of childminders from the mass home testing roll out “is completely absurd”.

Currently, their access to testing is via test centres. Which the EYA says are “often many miles away or only open during working hours”.

"Childminders have been on the frontline, welcoming children into their own homes and delivering quality care and education, throughout this pandemic,” said Leitch.

“It is frankly shameful that the government is continuing to exclude them from measures that would keep them, their loved ones and the children in their care, safer at what is still such a worrying time.

"It also remains unclear why this latest lateral flow testing rollout is currently restricted to the families and bubbles of school age children, and does not include those of children in the early years, especially given that most early years providers have been open since the start of the year.”

He added: “Time and again throughout this crisis, the government has chosen to exclude the early years sector from wider education initiatives. This simply must change - otherwise the indifference of this government towards this dedicated sector will live long in the memory of providers and the parents who rely on them."

Earlier this week the government’s school recovery tsar Kevan Collins said that early years would be “central” to England’s school recovery plan.

Giving evidence to MPs on next week’s reopening of schools, Collins admitted that early years has been blighted by under investment in recent years.  

The Department for Education has been contacted for comment.