Nursery World - Survey highlights funding crisis as nurseries and childminders fear closure by Christmas

One in six early years providers could close before Christmas, due to the ongoing impact of Covid-19, according to a survey by the Early Years Alliance.

More than half of the early years settings in the survey said they needed emergency funding to survive the next six months

The stark findings come from an online survey of 2,000 nurseries, pre-schools and childminders by the Alliance, which highlights the impact the pandemic has already had on the sector.

Two-thirds of setting respondents (65 per cent) said the Government hasn’t provided enough support for the early years sector during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Alliance is calling on the Chancellor to commit to an Early Years Sufficiency Fund at the upcoming Spending Review to ensure that there are enough early years places to meet families' needs.

Based on analysis of responses to the survey, independent early years research analysts Ceeda estimate that around £240 million is needed over the next six months (see table below).

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