Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support working parents and carers who require wraparound childcare provided by schools where that childcare is not available during the January 2021 covid-19 lockdown.

Ensuring that working parents and carers have access to the childcare they need remains a priority for the government. That is why we have ensured that all before and after-school clubs, holiday clubs and other out-of-school settings have been able to continue to stay open for children eligible to attend school on-site (i.e. for the children of critical workers and vulnerable children and young people), for the duration of the national lockdown, in line with the protective measures guidance for the sector which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protective-measures-for-holiday-or-after-school-clubs-and-other-out-of-school-settings-for-children-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.

We have also made clear that schools should be continuing to offer before and after-school provision for those pupils eligible to attend for on-site provision, where it is feasible for them to do so. We have provided guidance for schools to support them to resume this provision. A copy of the guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protective-measures-for-holiday-or-after-school-clubs-and-other-out-of-school-settings-for-children-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.

In addition to this, we have also ensured that there are several other ways that parents and carers can continue to access the childcare they need during the national restrictions. This includes:

• Childminders, which remain open for children in early years, children of critical workers and vulnerable children and young people;
• Nannies, which are still able to continue to provide services, including in the home;
• Parents are also able to form a childcare bubble with one other household for the purposes of informal childcare, where the child is under the age of 14; and
• Some households will also be able to benefit from being in a support bubble, which allows single adult households to join another household.