Alliance calls for urgent decision on spring term early years funding support as DfE reveals bigger falls in childcare attendance than previously estimated
Leading early years organisation the Early Years Alliance has called for the government to commit to extending 'free childcare' funding support to nurseries and childminders until at least the end of the spring term, following the publication of a new Department for Education statistical release which reveals that the government has been overestimating the proportion of children that have returned to childcare settings in England.
In the latest Attendance in education and early years settings during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak figures, published today, the DfE admits that it has had to 鈥渁djust鈥 its estimate for normal (pre-pandemic) childcare attendance levels due to a previous methodology error. It states that: 鈥淔rom December 2020 we no longer make an adjustment to the survey data to take into account expected usual sickness absence because following further analysis it has become clear that the Childcare and early years survey of parents, which underpins estimates of usual attendance, already accounts for children who were absent for the whole of the survey鈥檚 reference week.鈥
As a result of this change, the DfE鈥檚 estimate for the number of children normally attending an early years setting in the autumn term has increased from 887,000 to 929,000.
With the number of children currently attending early years settings also falling from 806,000 (last week鈥檚 figures) to 795,000 this week, the percentage of children currently attending compared to normal attendance levels is now 86%, compared to last week鈥檚 estimate of 91%.
The government is currently funding councils in England for two-, three- and four-year-olds accessing government-funded childcare places based on attendance figures from 2019, in order to support early years providers during a period of low demand. However, from January, the DfE intends to return to basing funding on actual attendance levels, although this decision has not been finalised.
Commenting, Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Alliance, said:
鈥淲ith just a few weeks until the start of the spring term, nurseries, pre-schools and childminders have been left in a completely unacceptable situation where they have no idea how much financial support they will be getting from the government over the coming months.
鈥淲orse still, today鈥檚 admission from the Department for Education shows that for weeks now, government officials have been working on the basis that more children had returned to early years settings than was actually the case.
鈥淕iven this and the fact that the recent extension to the furlough scheme until the end of March is likely to prolong the period of reduced childcare demand, it is clear the government must now commit to continuing to pay for funded early years places based on pre-Covid attendance levels until at least the end of the spring term.
鈥淔or the sake of providers across the country, we urge them to make this commitment sooner rather than later.鈥