Extended Services: Coronavirus

(asked on 25th January 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will provide targeted funding to wraparound care providers to ensure that they can continue to provide support to (a) key workers, (b) vulnerable children and (c) other working parents during the covid-19 lockdown.


Answered by
Vicky Ford Portrait
Vicky Ford
This question was answered on 1st February 2021

Ensuring sufficient childcare for families continues to be a government priority. This is why we have ensured that wraparound childcare settings have been able to remain open for vulnerable children and children of critical workers during the current national lockdown, in line with those children eligible to attend school for onsite provision; and have updated our guidance for providers of after-school and holiday clubs and other out-of-school settings to support providers to operate as safely as possible, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/guidance-for-schools-coronavirus-covid-19.

However, we recognise that the wraparound childcare sector, like many sectors, is facing unprecedented financial pressures as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. It is for this reason, the Government has made a range of financial packages of support available for businesses to access throughout the current crisis. This includes tax relief, business loans or cash grants, through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), and the Self-Employed Support Scheme (SEISS), as well as a £594 million discretionary fund for councils and the Devolved Administrations to support local businesses that may not be eligible for other support, during the current national lockdown.

We have also encouraged all local authorities to consider using local grants that have been made available to them during the COVID-19 outbreak, to support the wraparound childcare sector in their areas, and to safeguard sufficient childcare provision for all families, but particularly those with vulnerable children and children of critical workers. This includes funding streams such as the discretionary fund already mentioned, as well as the expanded Holiday Activities and Food Programme, which comprises a £220 million fund to be delivered through grants to local authorities. This programme will give children eligible for Free School Meals the option to join a free holiday-time programme that provides healthy food and enriching activities during the summer, Christmas and Easter holidays in 2021 – giving disadvantaged young people opportunities they might otherwise lose out on.

The department does not hold a central register of wraparound providers, and so we are unable to make an official assessment of the effects wraparound closures on levels of children’s physical activity. However, we are acutely aware of the benefits to children’s physical and mental wellbeing of attending these settings. Therefore, the Youth Investment Fund remains an important manifesto commitment. In the recently announced Spending Review, £30 million of capital investment was committed for 2021-22. This will provide a transformational investment in new and refurbished safe spaces for young people, so they can access support youth workers, and positive activities out of school, including sport and culture.

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