CYP Now - Labour backs campaign to reverse childcare furlough decision

Labour’s shadow childcare minister has warned the government’s decision to withdraw furlough funding for early years providers will “cripple” nurseries and force many to shut.

Tulip Siddiq urged ministers to rethink the furlough decision and propose 'a proper funding plan' for the childcare sector. Picture: Parliament UK

The warning from Labour’s Tulip Siddiq MP comes as an online petition calling on the government to reverse its decision to exclude early years providers from claiming 80 per cent of a furloughed employees’ wages has received more than 100,000 signatories.

The Department for Education issued fresh guidance detailing which childcare employees would be eligible for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) on Friday (17 April), less than 72-hours before claims applications for the scheme opened yesterday.

Coronavirus (Covid-19): financial support for education, early years and children’s social care says providers may only access CJRS funds “to cover up to the proportion of its paybill which could be considered to have been paid from that provider’s private income”. This means employers will be unable to claim for the percentage of income covered by government-funded “free” childcare places.

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