Being without childcare and having to pay childcare fees is a great concern for parents with small children. Childminder-based care is already extremely expensive, especially for children up to the age of 3. To expect parents to pay these fees upfront to keep a place at the time when there is no accessible childcare (and for many parents no paid work) is unrealistic. We also need the childcare sector to survive. When this is over, parents want their children to return to their childcare provider