Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme on the ability of nurseries and childcare providers to retain staff.

The government has announced unprecedented support for businesses, including the early years sector, to protect against the impact of COVID-19. For childcare providers, this includes business rates relief for nurseries, a range of loans and grants, and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme. Information on the support available can be found in the guidance for early years settings here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures#funding.

Early years settings will also continue to receive early years entitlement funding, and can access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to cover up to the proportion of their pay bill which could be considered to have been paid for from their provider’s private income.

The department has published guidance on the financial support available for all settings, including information on the interaction between early years entitlements funding and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. The guidance is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-education-early-years-and-childrens-social-care/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-education-early-years-and-childrens-social-care#sector-specific-guidance.

If a provider sees their early years dedicated schools grant income reduced by their local authority in order to fund childcare places elsewhere, they may be able to increase the proportion of their salary bill eligible for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme in the next furlough period. Further information is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/use-of-free-early-education-entitlements-funding-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/use-of-free-early-education-entitlements-funding-during-coronavirus-covid-19#using-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme.

The government is monitoring the impact these measures are having and keeping all policies under review.