Pre-school Education: Coronavirus

(asked on 30th October 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will set out what further support will be made available to early education and childcare providers during the next six months in response to the covid-19 outbreak.


Answered by
Vicky Ford Portrait
Vicky Ford
This question was answered on 4th November 2020

On 31 October, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, announced that a national lockdown will start on 5 November and that childcare settings would be able to remain open for the duration. The Prime Minister also confirmed that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will be extended for the duration of the national lockdown. Workers can retain their job and receive 80% of their current salary for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500.

Wider business support schemes are also available. For information on the new national restrictions including the financial support available please see: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-national-restrictions-from-5-november.

We want to provide security to nurseries and childminders who are open for the children who need them. For the autumn term we are continuing to pay local authorities for the childcare places they usually fund. This means that even if providers are open but caring for fewer children, as a result of low demand from parents or due to public health reasons, they can continue to be funded for the autumn term at broadly the levels they would have expected to see in the 2020 autumn term had there been no COVID-19 outbreak. This gives another term of secure income to nurseries and childminders who are open for the children who need them.

A spending review is currently underway and this will be the opportunity to examine the overall funding for early years. We are presenting the clearest and fullest case that we can for early years.

Specific Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) disapplications are in place for any provider who cannot deliver the EYFS requirements in full due to restrictions imposed through the national lockdown. Further information about the EYFS disapplications is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures.

Where a child is no longer eligible for 30 hours free childcare when the parent reconfirms (for example, if the parent has a change in employment status), they will enter a grace period where they can retain their childcare for a short period of time. The grace period is intended to ensure children do not need to immediately leave childcare provision should their parents drop out of eligibility, as well as offering stability for the child and childcare provider. Whilst in a grace period, if parents regain eligibility they can reconfirm through the childcare service and the 30 hours free entitlement would continue without a break for their child. If, after the grace period, a parent has not reconfirmed their eligibility, they can still access the 15 hours universal entitlement for 3- and 4-year olds.

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