Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to provide financial support to protect the viability of after school clubs in the event of school closures in England.

Schools and all childcare providers are closed, except for a limited number of children - children who are vulnerable and children whose parents are critical to the COVID-19 response and cannot be safely cared for at home.

In his speech of 20 March 2020, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a range of measures to support businesses, including:

• the coronavirus job retention scheme for employees who are not working but kept on payroll – the Government will contribute 80% of a worker’s wages of up to £2,500, backdated to 1 March 2020;
• the Business Interruption Loan Scheme will now be interest-free for 12 months rather than 6 months; and
• VAT payments for next quarter will be deferred – they will not need to be paid until March 2021.