Children: Day Care

Department for Education written question – answered at on 15 January 2021.

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Photo of Kim Johnson Kim Johnson Labour, Liverpool, Riverside

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made an assessment of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the sustainability of nursery and childminder provision of funding places on current occupancy; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reverting to funding on the basis of pre-pandemic occupancy rates to support that sector.

Photo of Vicky Ford Vicky Ford The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education

During the COVID-19 outbreak, we have provided unprecedented support to the early years sector by continuing to fund the free childcare entitlements, making grants and loans available, ensuring early years providers can access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for their non-government funded income and ensuring that childminders can access the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.

While we recognise that childcare attendance has been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, we saw attendance rise over the autumn term from 482,000 on 10 September 2020 to 792,000 on 10 December 2020. On 17 December 2020, the government therefore announced a return to funding early years settings on the basis on attendance. Under these arrangements, local authorities should ensure that providers are not penalised for short-term absences of children (for example, sickness, arriving late or leaving early, or a family emergency) through withdrawing funding, but use their discretion where absence is recurring or for extended periods, taking into account the reason for the absence and the impact on the provider.

The national lockdown announced by my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, on 4 January 2021 means that the number of children attending childcare will drop, although early years settings remain open for all.

We stay in regular contact with the early years sector and have heard from them already on this subject. We publish regular official statistics on attendance in early years settings here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak. The next release is due on Tuesday 19 January 2021. We will be closely monitoring both parental take-up of places and the capacity and responses of providers and will keep under constant review whether further action is needed.

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