Nursery World - Government slammed for failing to treat early years providers equally with schools

The Government has been criticised failing to provide extra funding for PPE and cleaning for nurseries, despite pledging thousands of pounds to support schools with their extra operating costs during the crisis.

Early years settings and schools are expected to reopen to more children from 1 June

The Early Years Alliance has written to the education secretary Gavin Williamson and the children and families minister Vicky Ford calling for an end to the unfair treatment of early years settings.

The letter argues that financial support to help keep children and staff safe, such as buying personal protective equipment (PPE) and paying for deep cleaning, is likely to be critical at a time when one in four providers fear closure as a result of the pandemic.

In guidance published on 7 April, the Department for Education confirmed that schools could apply for extra financial support to help with the ‘exceptional costs associated with Coronavirus for the period of March to July’, including increased premises related costs and additional cleaning costs.

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