Nursery World - Thousands sign petition against Government cut to furlough funding for nurseries

Thousands of childcare providers and parents have signed a petition calling for the Government to reinstate full furlough funding, after a previous commitment to pay early years staff under the coronavirus job retention scheme was watered down on Friday evening.

Over the weekend more than 70,000 people signed a Change.org petition against the last-minute reduction in support, and nearly 3,000 providers and parents have written to their local MP on this issue.

Nursery World understands that sector representatives met with the Department for Education this morning to urgently discuss the situation.

Nurseries that have stayed open for key workers fear they may now have to close after the Government’s U-turn over paying for early years staff furloughed as a result of the coronavirus crisis.

The news comes as businesses around the country start to submit claims to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) through the Government portal, which opens today, for the Government to pay the staff they have had to put on temporary paid leave (furlough) because of the coronavirus crisis.

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