Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure the safety of vulnerable children unable to attend wraparound care due to the closure of businesses in the sector resulting from their ineligibility for Government financial support during the covid-19 outbreak.

During the period of national lockdown announced on 4 January 2021, primary, secondary, alternative provision, special schools, further education providers, and wraparound childcare providers and other out-of-school settings for children have been able to remain open to vulnerable children and young people.

We are committed to ensuring the safety and protection of vulnerable children and young people. Work is being co-ordinated across government to address the increased needs of vulnerable children and young people and their families. Throughout all restrictions to date, children's social care services and early help services have continued to support vulnerable children and young people and their families. We will continue to ensure this is the case during this period of national restrictions. There are a range of exemptions to national restrictions which allow key services to operate including childcare, contact between birth parents and children in care, therapy, or other forms of support, as well as other essential youth services, such as 1-to-1 youth work and support groups.

We also recognise the value the wraparound childcare sector offers to our children and young people, in terms of the enriching activities they provide and, in particular, the valuable support they provide to our critical worker parents, and vulnerable children. That is why we have encouraged all local authorities to consider how they could use local grants made available to them by government to help bolster this part of the childcare sector in their areas, to safeguard sufficient childcare provision for children of critical workers and vulnerable children.

This includes discretionary funding, such as the £594 million fund provided by government to local authorities to help them support local businesses affected by the new lockdown restrictions, as well as funding streams such as the holiday activities and food programme. The expanded programme, which comprises a £220 million fund to be delivered through grants to local authorities, will be expanded to reach all local authority areas over the Easter, summer, and Christmas holidays in 2021. This is further to the wider financial support packages that government has made available throughout the COVID-19 outbreak to support private businesses, which includes tax relief, business loans or cash grants through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the Self-Employed Support Scheme.