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Zoe rae
Zoe Rae says she may have to close her daycare
“We could last another two months, but without more help we won’t last any longer,” says Zoe Rae, owner of the Goldsmiths community nursery in south-east London.
It typically serves 30 children, but since the shutdown began, it has dropped to just three after providers were told they should only remain open to the families of key workers.
It means her income has plummeted, so Ms. Rae, 35, has put 10 of her staff on paid vacation, in part using the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS).
She also continues to receive some state funds for free child care that she would normally provide.
However, you still have to pay two full-time wages to stay open, as well as your rent, trash fees, and human resource support costs, which means you are missing out.
‘Morally correct’
“I think the government should do more to help daycare centers,” she says.
“They asked us to remain open to key workers, and we believe that this is what should be done morally. But the support they offer does not cover the costs.”
According to a survey conducted by the Early Years Alliance of more than 3,000 daycare centers, preschools, and childcare providers, one in four says they will have to permanently close for the next 12 months due to financial problems.
About 74% also think the government has not given them enough support to overcome the crisis, the lobby group found.
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Daycares have closed to all except vulnerable children and those with a parent identified as a key worker
To protect themselves, some daycare centers ask parents to pay retention fees to keep their children’s place. But it has sparked a backlash and the Competition and Markets Authority is now investigating.
Tulip Siddiq, the shadow labor minister for the first few years, said the poll “is further evidence that the lack of government support is forcing daycare centers and other providers to close and fire staff.”
“Losing a quarter of our child care providers in this crisis would have a devastating impact on working families.”
How many child care providers are there?
There were 24,000 nurseries and preschools in England in 2019, according to the Oftsed schools regulator. Together they provided 1,075,000 child care locations.
There were also 35,500 childcare providers delivering 231,000 early years places.
The Department of Education (DfE) says it is offering child care providers, most of whom are private or voluntary, a variety of support.
This includes access to the CJRS, which pays 80% of a worker’s salary, and continuation of state funding for free child care, although these funding funds must offset each other.
Some will also be able to access emergency business fee relief and the £ 10,000 government small business grant.
However, the Early Years Alliance says too many are falling through the cracks in this support.
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Zarah Hussain
Zarah Hussain runs the Zarah Nursery in Manchester
Zarah Hussain, 40, like many child minders, is self-employed. She is considering closing her Manchester business after the number of families she serves has dropped from eight to one.
The problem is that he cannot get any salary support from the government because his accounts are not going back far enough and therefore he has no personal income.
“I still have to pay my liability insurance, Oftsed’s registration fees and subscriptions to learning resource websites,” he says.
“I am using my savings to continue, but I have my own family to support.”
He also believes the government should do more to help, saying businesses like his are “crucial to key workers” and remain open 12 hours a day.
“If people like us fall, people will have to rely on unregistered childcare providers and that poses protection problems.”
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Financing a change of direction?
The Early Years Alliance points to other blind spots in government support. For example, providers are not always eligible for a small business grant if they are located in locations that do not attract fee relief, such as community centers.
There has also been widespread anger over the DfE’s perceived makeover about how much support providers can get through the government’s job retention scheme.
The group claims that at the start of the blockade, the DfE gave providers the impression that they would get their rights funded by the state and fully supported by CJRS.
However, almost a month later, the department offered “greater clarity” to explain that these two schemes would offset each other to avoid unfair duplication of public funds.
The DfE denies this and says that HM Revenue & Customs, which manages the CJRS, has always been clear about the terms and conditions that apply “universally in all sectors.”
However, almost 170,000 people have signed a petition, arguing that they are the wrong child care providers who now have less cash support than they originally thought.
In the group survey, 47% said they may need to fire staff as a result.
‘Vital role’
Amanda Philips, who runs Little School House in Liverpool, feels the DfE “changed the posts.”
He had temporarily closed his nursery and put 10 paid paid employees in March. But now she is not sure if it will ever open again.
“We thought that with government funding and permission we would be fine and outgrow it, but now we are on the brink.”
A DfE spokeswoman said: “Childcare, childcare and all other settings in the early years are playing a vital role in the coronavirus response, supporting critical workers and parents of vulnerable children with ongoing child care .
“We have provided continuity in funding free childcare rights, and the government has established a significant financial support package for providers. This includes the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which providers can access for employees whose Salary is not covered by public funds. ”
