Parents fear nurseries will never re-open as thousands of staff can’t be furloughed during lockdown closures
THOUSANDS of nurseries across the UK won’t have full access to furlough funding for their staff following a "worrying" U-turn from the government.
It comes as nursery associations warn the backtrack on funding could be “the final straw” for some pre-school daycare businesses.
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The Department for Education (DfE) initially said nurseries could access both furlough funding and their usual government support.
But in an update last week, just days before the furlough scheme went live, the DfE altered its guidance to say nurseries who offer funded places will only be able to furlough a proportion of staff.
The number of staff that can be furloughed must be equivalent to the amount of non-government funded income the nursery gets.
This means if a nursery receives 60 per cent funding - for example, through early years entitlement - and 40 per cent parent fees, they can only furlough 40 per cent of staff.
One mum got in contact with The Sun and told us her nursery is asking parents to contact their local MP because they're concerned about being forced to shut permanently.
Ruth Parfitt, 40, a freelance journalist and mum-of-three in Brighton, is currently home-schooling three children while juggling work.
Her youngest son, who is three years old, used to go to nursery for 25 hours a week before the coronavirus lockdown.
Ruth said: "The nursery isn't charging fees to the parents of the kids who aren't at nursery so without government help they really are going to be in trouble.
"I just feel for them because it's left them, and hundreds of nurseries like them, stuck.
"Staff could lose their jobs or the nursery could close for good if they don't have the money to keep it going."
'I'm worried about the long-term impact on my son'
CECILE Blaireau, a 35-year-old blogger and freelance writer at The Frenchie Mum, says she's currently looking after her four-year-old son at home due to the coronavirus lockdown.
Her son usually gets 30 hours free childcare a week at nursery.
Cecile, who lives in Ashford, Kent, told The Sun: "It is worrying that nurseries will struggle further and fees will probably go up for parents.
"I'm juggling everything at home at the minute, but I am worried about the long term impact it will have on my son.
"I have been trying to implement routines while at home to try to replace the nursery.
"There are many days that are difficult as I still work from home."
Another parent, Natasha Gee, a 34-year-old freelance public relations officer from north-London, told us she would be "devastated" if her nursery couldn't reopen.
Natasha is currently home-schooling her three kids, the youngest of which, Jake, aged three, used to attend nursery for 30 hours a week.
At the start of the lockdown, her nursery would run daily Zoom sessions for the children - but this has since stopped since the government announced its furlough scheme.
Natasha, who also has Aaron, six, and Jonah, eight, told us: "I totally would be very worried if my nursery couldn't reopen.
"I never appreciated nurseries so much until now - I would be devastated if it closed down. I would be in a panic.
"I work from home, I split my work around children.
"If I had to continue home schooling him, he would miss out. I'm not a trained teacher.
"It would also impact me being able to work."
How does the furlough scheme work?
ANY UK organisation with employees can apply, including businesses, charities, recruitment agencies and public authorities.
It's up to your place of work to apply to the scheme, meaning you won't need to contact the government yourself.
To access the scheme, your employer must comply with the following:
- Designate employees who cannot do their jobs due to the coronavirus measures put in place by the government
- Notify those employees of their new "furloughed" status
- Submit information to HMRC about furloughed employees to set up a system for reimbursement and about existing systems that will facilitate payments
To be furloughed, you must have been on a payroll on March 19.
Furlough leave can be backdated to March 1, but the portal your employer will use to register your furloughed status only launched yesterday.
Consequently, you will not be paid until the end of this month.
Workers can ask previous employers to rehire and furlough them, even if they left for another job, but firms don't have to do this.
The move is likely to impact every nursery in England, as they all offer funded places for children, the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) has warned.
Purnima Tanuku OBE, chief executive of the NDNA, confirmed some nurseries who are staying open for children of key workers are struggling financially, with some losing thousands of pounds per day.
She told The Sun: "We know from our own nursery members that for many this decision to now allow them to claim fully for all staff could be the final straw following years of government underfunding for so-called ‘free’ places.
"There is a real danger that there may not be enough places for those children of key workers who really need them.
"For those who are closed and have furloughed all their staff already on the understanding they would receive 80 per cent for all of them, this is a huge blow and will undoubtedly lead to redundancies."
Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, added: "It is completely unacceptable that the government is now saying that it will be watering down this support.
"Early years businesses will have made significant financial plans and decisions based on the guidance already published, and many will have already started furloughing staff.
"It is simply too late for the government to start adding new caveats, conditions and limits now."
Latest figures from the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) states there are an estimated 23,500 day nurseries.
In addition to this, there are 9,600 pre-schools and sessional crèches, 59,500 childminders and 15,000 out-of-school childcare providers.
It's not clear yet how many of these have been impacted by coronavirus, or the number of staff that have been furloughed or made redundant.
However, the NDNA estimates hundreds of nurseries fear closure as a real possibility.
The government has confirmed it will continue to pay for free early years entitlement places for two, three and four year olds.
However, at the moment this only applies to children of key workers who are still in nursery during lockdown.
Nurseries have also been urged to apply for a business rates holiday for the 2020 to 2021 tax year.
They may also be eligible to claim through their insurance, although the NDNA warns most policies won't cover business disruption due to coronavirus.
A DfE spokesperson told The Sun: “We have already confirmed that we will continue to fund councils for the free childcare entitlements for the duration of these closures.
“We are asking settings to remain open where needed for children of critical workers and most vulnerable.
“To support them with this we are relieving some of the burdens on staff during these challenging times, temporarily changing some of the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage framework and providing significant financial support, including a business rate holiday for many private providers."