Shropshire nursery owners fearing for the future after support changes
Nursery owners in Shropshire have been left devastated and fearing for the future after government changes to financial support.
Providers could initially access support from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), allowing them to furlough workers, as well as 'free entitlement' funding, but the Department for Education announced restrictions last week.
Under the restrictions, private childcare providers have been told they should only furlough employees if they meet specific conditions – the conditions mean that those nursery providers who remained open for key worker children, as instructed by the Government, could now be at risk.
Penny Hustwick, director of four Ofsted outstanding-rated day nurseries in Telford said the announcement had left the early years industry reeling, with some fearing for their future.
Mrs Hustwick, who owns ABC Day Nurseries at Lightmoor, Hadley, Hollinswood and Hoo at Preston-upon-the-Weald-Moors, had kept all four settings open for children of key workers, on a reduced staff basis, based on the number of key worker children needing the “lifeline” childcare.
She said: “This announcement has left private nursery owners in shock and disbelief – I am furious.
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“We were told we needed to remain open for key worker children which, as the owner of ABC, I did. Some providers ignored the Government advice and closed their doors to all but I knew we were vital to the key worker parents and therefore vital to them to enable them to continue in their roles – from nurses to doctors, to carers and retail.
“We have been referred to as the fourth emergency service, a lifeline to those key workers on the front line and now we receive this news.
“We have kept the doors to all four nurseries open, with a handful of children at each, as it has been vital for those children to continue attending a familiar environment with familiar staff and for the parents to be able to drop at the same place as they did before, which is usually on their way to work."
Mrs Hustwick added: “We were relying on the combination of the funding and the furlough scheme to just about pull through this time. We want to be able to reopen our doors to all when this is over but the Government’s announcement has now put that in doubt for so many private childcare providers.
“They dangled a carrot and snatched it away at the last moment. It is a huge blow not only to the industry but to private owners like myself who have been working around the clock to ensure the key worker children have a safe environment to come to whilst their parents work.”
In the West Midlands a host of nurseries are under the same pressure with Tipton Toddlers in Dudley Port sending out nine redundancy letters on Monday after the changes cost them £5,000 in a month, with bosses warning the nursery may not survive the lockdown.
