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Leading early years organisation the Early Years Alliance has called on the Department for Education to provide clarity on what financial support will be made available to early years providers in England affected by coronavirus, as fears over the long-term impact of the outbreak continue to grow.

The move comes as a growing number of Alliance members have voiced concerns about the potential financial impact of parents removing their children from setting due to illness or on advice to self-isolate 鈥� and in particular, whether they would still receive 鈥榝ree entitlement鈥� funding in such instances.

Current DfE guidance (Early education and childcare: Statutory guidance for local authorities, 2018) states that local authorities should 

鈥渆nsure that providers are not penalised for short term absences of children, for example sickness, arriving late or leaving early, or a family emergency through withdrawing funding, but use their discretion where absence is recurring or for extended periods taking into account the reason for the absence and the impact on the provider鈥�.

and that they should:

鈥渆nsure that providers are not penalised through withdrawal of funding for short term closures of a setting, for example, as a result of local or national elections or damage to the premises鈥�.

The Alliance understands that a number of individual local authorities have confirmed that they would continue to fund providers 鈥� however, as it stands, there is no clear central government guidance on how, or if, this existing guidance applies to coronavirus.

In a letter to schools minister Nick Gibb and children and families minister Vicky Ford, who have joint responsibility for the early years, Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said:

鈥淲e know that this is a rapidly-changing situation, and that the Department for Education has endeavoured to keep the sector updated on latest policy, and we warmly welcome recent steps such as the introduction of the dedicated coronavirus helpline for providers, schools and parents.

鈥淭hat said, we are continuing to receive a high volume of queries with regard to the rules around 鈥榝ree entitlement鈥� funding, and whether or not early years providers will still receive this funding for any children who are absent through either illness or the requirement to self-isolate. While we are aware of individual local authorities who have confirmed that they will continue to fund providers in such instances, there is as yet no central guidance on this. As such, I would be grateful if you would confirm if this something the Department is looking to produce and if so, what the timescales on this are likely to be, as this will provide much-needed clarity to the sector at what is a confusing and worrying time.

鈥淚n addition, I am very conscious that for many nurseries, pre-schools and childminders, funded entitlement income is only part of the story, and that the loss of private fees through illness or the need to self-isolate is also likely to have a substantial impact. Given this, it would be useful to know if the Department has made ready any contingency funding to support those providers who may face a significant loss of private income as the result of coronavirus, and if so, how and when this will be made available. 

鈥淐hildcare provision plays an vital role in enabling parents to go to work and, in turn, the continued smooth running of the wider economy, and we would hope that this would be taken into consideration in any discussions on this issue.鈥�

The Alliance has created an online coronavirus resource for early years providers which is being updated on a daily basis, and includes the latest advice and guidance for childcare setting, which is available at: .