Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of early education and childcare providers who have been unable to access (1) the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and (2) the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.

We do not hold data on the number of early education and childcare providers who have been unable to access the support schemes on offer. However, we do know, from our survey of childcare and early years education providers and COVID-19 (September-October 2020), that 75% of group-based providers and 10% of school-based providers reported having made use of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) at any point since it was introduced. We know that the education sector has made 249,000 claims during the 3 Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) grant periods up to 31 December 2020, out of an eligible population of 114,000, with the average value of claim £2,300. Further information on this survey can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/survey-of-childcare-and-early-years-providers-and-coronavirus-covid-19-wave-2.

We have issued clear guidance on how all early education and childcare providers can access the CJRS and the SEISS.

The early years sector has benefitted from the continuation of early years entitlement funding during the summer and autumn terms in 2020, and providers have been able to furlough their staff via the CJRS. 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 the 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.

An early years provider can access the CJRS to cover up to the proportion of its salary bill which could be considered to have been paid for from that provider’s private income. This would typically be income received from ‘parent-paid’ hours that have not yet returned as a result of COVID-19 and excludes all income from the government’s free entitlements. Providers should use the month of February 2020 to represent their usual income, in calculating the proportion of its salary bill eligible to be covered by the scheme, taking into account parent-paid income that has returned. Providers should adjust these proportions in subsequent furloughing applications if their income from the government's free entitlements changes.

Childminders are eligible to receive support from the SEISS, which has been extended until April 2021.

More information about the CJRS and all other business and self-employed support that is being made available can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-extends-furlough-to-march-and-increases-self-employed-support.

We continue to work with the early years sector to understand how they can best be supported to ensure that sufficient safe, appropriate and affordable childcare is available to those who need it now, and for all families who need it in the longer term.