With new government data showing that attendance in early years
settings was down by 50 per cent last week, Labour has criticised
government plans which will see nurseries and childcare providers
lose funding for each child who does not attend during lockdown.
Labour’s Shadow Early Years Minister Tulip Siddiq is warning that
the Government has put nurseries, pre-schools and childminders in
an impossible position with changes that will see funding
withdrawn if parents choose to keep children at home or providers
are forced to shut due to staffing pressures or safety fears.
Many families are choosing not to use early years settings in
lockdown due to the stay at home message and furloughed parents
keeping children at home. Yet Ministers are pressing ahead with
changes to base funding for childcare providers on current
attendance, which could see nearly 19,000 close within six
months.
According to a survey by the Early Years Alliance at the end of
last year, 25% of early years providers feared closure within six
months if Ministers pressed ahead with changes to base funding on
current occupancy. Labour analysis shows that this could result
in nearly 19,000 early years providers closing before summer.
With many providers struggling to stay open at high capacity and
evidence that childcare demand is reducing further in lockdown,
the impact of these funding changes is now likely to be
significantly worse. Providers that are forced to close due to
staffing pressures during the lockdown will be especially hard
hit.
, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Children and Early,
said:
“The Government should not be pressing ahead with these funding
changes that will push thousands of early years providers to the
brink of collapse.
“Nurseries, preschools and childminders will simply not be able
to operate at high capacity throughout lockdown and this demand
undermines the Government’s public health message that everyone
should stay at home unless absolutely necessary.
“The funding that early years providers will lose due to low
attendance and staffing pressures during lockdown will force many
to close their doors forever, which would be a devastating
outcome for working families, our economy and the life chances of
the next generation.
“The Government must rethink these early years funding changes
before it is too late.”
Ends
Notes to editors
- A survey carried out by the Early Years Alliance in November
2020 found that 25% of childcare providers believed that they
would crease to be viable within six months if the government
change their approach to early years funding from this month so
that it is based on current occupancy rather than pre-Covid
occupancy (as it has been since the start of the pandemic).
- 56% (28%+ 28%) of providers say [the funding changes] would
have a negative or very negative impact on them - and of those,
nearly half (45%) don't think they would be able to remain viable
for more than 6 months (5% + 16% + 24% = 45) – data below:
If the government goes ahead with plans to base early entitlement
funding on actual attendance as of January 2021, rather than
basing it on pre-Covid attendance levels, how long do you
anticipate being able to remain viable?
|
Less than a month
|
5%
|
|
1 - 3 months
|
16%
|
|
4 - 6 months
|
24%
|
|
7 - 9 months
|
13%
|
|
10 - 12 months
|
18%
|
|
More than a year
|
24%
|
Source: Early Years Alliance
- If 25% of these providers were to close then there would be
18,976 providers lost.
- The same analysis shows that 43% of providers – 32,048 – do
not believe they would remain viable for a year.
