Early years settings under growing financial instability amid increasing Covid infections, new report finds

Early years settings are facing uncertainty over finances amid rising coronavirus infections in the UK, a new report has found.

Already this year, a quarter of nurseries and preschools in England, Wales and Scotland had to partially close during spring, according to a survey forming part of the research.

Meanwhile, 12 per cent spent time fully closed between the same months of March and May.

This was mainly down to children or staff self-isolating, according to the new report by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) think-tank and National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA).

The report said it was “highly likely” that more people having to self-isolate due to rising infection rates will contribute to more closures over summer.

The number of UK positive Covid tests reported daily has grown from under 5,000 throughout the whole of May to tens of thousands in July - peaking at around 54,600 last week.

Rising infections has spilled over into increasing numbers told to self-isolate, with recent figures showing more than 520,000 alerts were sent to NHS Covid-19 app users saying they had to stay at home due to contact with a Covid case.

Some early years settings are already reporting that the notification of cases of a positive Covid test doubled between the last week of May and the first week of June, the new poll of 344 early years settings in England, Wales and Scotland found.

Even before summer, the survey found attendance was lower than usual, with eight per cent fewer children in England and six per cent fewer in Wales attending early years settings in spring compared to the same period the year, according to The COVID-19 pandemic and the early years workforce report looking at February and May this year.

Dr Sara Bonetti, report co-author and director of early years at EPI, warned that the next few months may prove to be the “most critical moment yet” for settings as infection rates rise and the furlough scheme draws to a close.

“Our research shows that over the spring, many early years settings were forced to close due to rising Covid rates and a lack of demand from families for places. It is now highly likely that these problems will intensify over the summer,” she said.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “Many early years settings went into the pandemic already in a precarious financial position.

“The last 15 months has only exacerbated this, with uncertain demand, Covid infection, and staff shortages all contributing to closures and new financial difficulties.”

The findings come after another survey suggested most early years settings faced full or partial closures in England and Wales last winter amid the Covid pandemic.

Nurseries shut during the first spring lockdown but were allowed to open during “stay at home” measures this year.