Nursery leader’s early years staffing warning
‘Crisis’ looming after furlough
A LEADING nursery provider has warned of an impending ‘childcare staffing crisis’ as the furlough scheme is set to finish at the end of this month.
The warning comes from Cheryl Hadland, managing director of Tops Day Nurseries which has branches across the south coast including one at Lakeside in Northarbour, Portsmouth and another at Queen Alexandra Hospital.
Cheryl decided to reiterate her concerns following a survey by the National Day Nurseries Association which revealed the level on ongoing dependence on the scheme as childcare numbers struggle to recover from the initial lockdown and parents have once again been urged by the government to work from home.
Research showed that 71 per cent of staff working in early years settings were furloughed between March and August with another 18 per cent remaining on furlough between August and October.
Four per cent of early years staff have been made redundant since the onset of the pandemic but Cheryl expects this number to increase greatly without extended government support.
She said: ‘Six of our Hampshire nurseries remained open throughout the pandemic in order to support the local hospital and other key workers. But due to the government enforced restrictions and lack of demand for childcare our numbers were restricted and we did temporarily close three nurseries.
‘We were asked to begin welcoming more children back from June 1 but not all children returned. Recent Department for Education figures show just 414,000 children were attending across the country – around 25 per cent of the usual number. Many of our parents have been made redundant, are self-isolating or working from home so the demand for childcare is not what it was earlier this year.
‘Without the support of extended furlough or any other government schemes to support the early years industry, it’s going to make things extremely difficult for us.’
The nursery boss was last month joined by other leading childcare providers from across the city in expressing concerns for a shortfall in pre-school practitioners brought about by years of under-funding.
The concern for Cheryl is this situation is only going to be exacerbated with the end of the support scheme.