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Commenting on changes to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said: 

“Today’s announcement by the government has important ramifications for the early years sector.  

"While we of course recognise that it is not realistic to expect the Job Retention Scheme to continue indefinitely, the childcare sector has faced a significant financial hit during the coronavirus outbreak. As such, while it is positive that the scheme will continue in some form until October, the fact remains that at a time when the government urgently needs to be offering greater financial support for childcare businesses, it is instead starting to place additional costs on them.   

"We know that some providers will not be opening on 1 June and many of those that do will be doing so based on a phased reopening. With low demand for places expected, many providers will be operating on a reduced staff structure and will therefore require support through the furlough scheme.   

"As such, while the increased flexibility set to be introduced is welcome, with staff costs accounting for the vast majority of provider outgoings, the financial burden set to be placed on employers from July onwards is likely to place a significant strain on already struggling settings, many of which will already be facing the costs associated with reopening, such as extra cleaning and PPE. 

"It is therefore vital that the government looks to ensure that the early years is adequately supported through what was already set to be an incredibly challenging period for the sector. Failure to do so will leave many providers with no choice but to make redundancies, and in the worst cases, close their doors permanently." 

Commenting on the extension of the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme, Neil said: 

"We warmly welcome the announcement that the Self-employment Income Support Scheme, which has provided much needed support to childminders, is to open again for a second time. That said, we know that there are many childminders who are relatively new to the sector who remain ineligible for support from the scheme. We urge the government to reconsider its stance on this issue and ensure that newly-employed childminders are able to benefit from the same level of support as the rest of the childminding sector." 

Editor notes 

• The Early Years Alliance is the largest and most representative early years membership organisation in England. A registered educational charity, it also provides high-quality affordable childcare and education to support children and families in areas of deprivation throughout the country.

• The Alliance represents 14,000 members and supports them to deliver care and learning to more than 800,000 families every year. We deliver family learning projects, offer information and advice, produce specialist publications, run acclaimed training programmes and campaign to influence early years policy and practice.

• The Alliance website is