Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what financial support is available to (a) maintained and (b) private nurseries in response to the covid-19 lockdown announced in January 2021.

The early years sector has benefitted from the continuation of early years entitlement funding during the during the summer and autumn terms in 2020, and providers have been able to furlough their staff via the Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme. As long as the staff meet the other criteria for the scheme, schools and early years providers are able to furlough their staff if they have experienced a drop in either their income from parents or government. Eligible nurseries can also benefit from a business rates holiday and can access the business loans as set out by my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

On 17 December 2020, the government announced a return to funding early years settings on the basis of attendance, as measured by the January 2021 census.

The early years and schools census are statutory data collections and are combined to produce a national statistics release. The statutory guidance underpinning these censuses has not changed, but the Department for Education issued supportive documentation to help guide local authorities and providers with completing the census during the COVID-19 outbreak. This supporting documentation was issued to all local authorities on 14 January 2021 and has not changed. The 2021 census guidance for early years can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-census-2021-guide.

We will fund local authorities in the 2021 spring term based on their January 2021 census. If attendance rises after the census is taken, we will top-up councils to up to 85% of their January 2020 census level, where a local authority can provide evidence for increased attendance during the spring term. This will give local authorities additional financial confidence to pay providers for increasing attendance later in the spring term.

We stay in regular contact with the early years sector, including on this subject. We will be closely monitoring both parental take-up of places and the capacity and responses of providers.