Providers renew calls for Covid-19 testing in all early years settings

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said over the weekend that the government had widened its criteria for businesses to benefit from lateral flow testing to those with 50 employees.

• Early years inspections during Covid

• Lockdown response: how services deliver vital support for children

The move “hugely increases the number of different businesses that are able to sign up, so that small and medium size companies can benefit from rapid testing as we work to build back better”, he said.

“Employers should regularly test their staff, and this drive across government to raise awareness and encourage more businesses to introduce rapid testing for employees is incredibly important. When you consider that around one in three people have the virus without symptoms and could potentially infect people without even knowing it, it becomes clear why focusing testing on those without symptoms is so essential,” Hancock added.

However, nursery providers and childcare leaders have hit out at the government for “once again failing” the sector.

Current guidelines allow access to regular testing for staff working at settings on school sites and those run by local authorities.

However, private and voluntary (PVI) settings are not eligible for such testing unless they have more than 50 employees despite being advised to stay open during the third national lockdown in England.

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance (EYA), said: "If the government can roll out lateral flow testing not only to colleges, schools and local authority nursery schools, but also now a significant proportion of private businesses, there is absolutely no excuse for not ensuring that the same support is made available to all private and voluntary nurseries, pre-schools across the country.

"The Health Secretary has rightly said that “focusing testing on those without symptoms is essential” to reducing the spread of Covid. It beggars belief, therefore, that we are now over a month into national lockdown and the government has still failed to ensure that early years and childcare settings, where social distancing is simply not possible, have direct access to vital tests.

"Early years providers have been asked to continue providing care and education at a time when the majority of the population has been instructed to stay at home. The very least the government can do is ensure that they are given the practical support to do so as safely as possible."

Agreed!!! We are completely dedicated to our children and families ❤️ and we want to remain open to support our community but this has been extremely difficult to navigate through with no support whatsoever from the government or local council!

— Number 9 The Nursery (@No9thenursery) February 7, 2021

On Twitter, some PVI providers said they had been informed by local authorities that they could access lateral flow testing, however, there is no universal policy on the issue.

One person said: “[Our local authority] has offered lateral flow testing three weeks ago, since then settings that have 10 or over members of staff do it in the setting, smaller PVIs have it done in local chemists and test centres that are literally on every corner.

“Looks like it works in some councils only.”

Another added: “We have been offered testing by the schools we work with. The council have now offered to provide them to our nursery staff for home testing. It’s getting there, but too slow. A whole month after the schools.”

However, others agreed with the EYA.

One person wrote: “We are completely dedicated to our children and families and we want to remain open to support our community but this has been extremely difficult to navigate through with no support whatsoever from the government or local council.”

Another said: “Our nursery committee got funds donated for our nursery team to get lateral flow testing in house - it’s so sad that we had to do this! They are open to all and should have been included from the start.”

Meanwhile, the row over school reopening has ramped up amid claims children may be subject to longer school days and shorter summer holidays as part of the government’s catch-up plan.

According to the Daily Telegraph, both are possibilities being considered by the Department for Education.

Robert Halfon, the chairman of the education select committee, told the paper: “They are definitely considering all these ideas. I think they are receptive and thinking about it seriously.”

However, teaching unions have dismissed the idea of extending school days, branding it “superficially attractive but unhelpful”.

General secretary of the NAHT union, Paul Whiteman, said: “Research evidence shows that there are better methods to help pupils than lengthening the school day. The government must filter out loud calls for superficially attractive schemes and listen to the experts instead.”