Breaking News: Nurseries and schools to close from Monday due to Coronavirus

Under the move, schools and nurseries will remain open to NHS staff, health workers, police officers and those who deliver food, as well as vulnerable children, including with education, health and care (EHC) plans. Details of who qualifies as a key worker will be confirmed later.

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said, 'We have received confirmation from the Department for Education that this applies to both group settings and childminders.'

The move was revealed by the education secretary Gavin Williamson this evening (Wednesday), with more details provided by the Prime Minister Boris Johnson during his daily Coronavirus press conference.

In a statement to the House of Commons, Mr Williamson said, 'After schools shut their gates on Friday afternoon they will remain closed until further notice this will be for all children, except to those of key workers and where children who are most vulnerable.

'The scientific advice shows that the settings are safe for this small number of children to continue attending. But asking others to stay away will go towards helping us slow the spread of this virus.

Mr Johnson said that the Government would reimburse costs of closure for nurseries and private schools. He said he could not confirm how long schools and nurseries would be closed for.

A voucher scheme will also be put in place to make up for free school meals, said Mr Williamson.

Reacting to the news, the Early Years Alliance said, 'We recognise that these are very unique circumstances and that the Government must do all it can to mitigate the spread of coronavirus, and we know that today’s decision will not have been taken lightly.

'That said, the monumental impact that this will have childcare providers across the country cannot be underestimated. Many now face a significant loss in revenue while still being required to pay mortgages and rents and other fixed costs. There can be no doubt that this move will have a huge detrimental financial impact across the sector.

'While the recent commitment from the Department for Education on the continuation of the free entitlement funding during these difficult times are welcome, these alone are not enough to ensure that the childcare sector can survive these difficult times. Most providers also rely on private fees from parents as a key source of income, and so the inevitable loss of revenue once these measures are implemented will be significant. And of course, all this comes at a time when many nurseries, pre-schools and childminders across the country were already struggling financially as the result of years of government underfunding.

'From a practical perspective, it remains to be seen how this proposal can or will be implemented in practice. Early years providers now face the prospect of having to identify which of their parents are "key workers", and then making incredibly difficult decisions on how many staff members will be needed to provide to deliver this care, and what happens to those staff who are no longer required to work.

'The Chancellor has outlined in detail a number of measures aimed at supporting the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors. It is now imperative that he commits to a dedicated support package for the early years sector, to ensure that they are able to weather this storm, as indicated by the education secretary during his statement today.

'At the same time, the Department for Education must urgently provide guidance to the sector on how the Government's plan can work in practice, and we will be working with them on this as a matter of urgency.'

The National Day Nurseries Association's chief executive Purnima Tanuku called the news 'absolutely devastating'.

She said, 'How can the private nursery sector remain sustainable in the face of mass closures and expensive overheads?

'We must have reassurance from Government that as well as continuing to pay the early years entitlement funding, they will support the sector in the same way they have promised for other sectors badly affected by this catastrophe. Nurseries will lose income from parents but will still have staff to pay and rental or mortgage costs.

'It’s vital that parents can access high-quality care once they return to work again en masse and nursery businesses and their staff must be supported to be in a position to deliver this.

'We also need to know how some nurseries - who care for children of key workers and for vulnerable children – can continue to remain open with few children.

'I will be pressing the government on all these issues at the early years sector Covid-19 response meeting tomorrow.'

Claire Harding, head of Coram Family and Childcare, said, 'We understand and respect the Government’s decision to close childcare providers and schools. This will have huge impacts for families across the UK and Government must step in now to make sure that parents aren’t left out of pocket if they can’t work. This should include asking employers to be as supportive as possible to working parents, and making financial help available immediately through the benefits system for parents on low and middle incomes if they can't work. 

'Most childcare providers ar​e small businesses, and they operate on very tight margins. If they don’t have any income, they will go out of business. We welcome Government’s commitment to continue free early education funding but this isn’t enough, as most settings also rely on parent fees. Government must protect them – so they’re able to start providing childcare again as soon as the closure period ends.'