‘We’ll stay open until forced to shut’

NURSERIES will defy government instructions to close until they are forced to do so, The Daily Telegraph understands, as many fear that shutting down will put them out of business.

On Wednesday, the Prime Minister said that they should only open for the children of key workers, but despite legislation being passed that enables the Government to shut them down, many nurseries said that they would remain open to all children until those powers were enacted. A group of six private nurseries across Buckinghamshire and Berkshire emailed staff, saying: “We are not being told we have to close at the moment and our aim is to stay open for as long as possible.”

Michelle Owens, manager of Selwyn Nursery in Liverpool told The Telegraph: “We want to stay open as long as possible. We are waiting for concrete measures from the Government.”

In Scotland, Hyde n Seek Nurseries, who have seven centres, said that they will remain open indefinitely.

In a message to parents, they said: “We are delighted for the staff who do

‘We are not being told we have to close at the moment and our aim is to stay open for as long as possible’

an extremely hard job as they may well reside within their post.”

Childcare providers have been under severe financial strain since 2017, when a Government policy giving three and four-year-olds 30 hours of paid-for childcare per week was rolled out. But staff have argued that the lowest funding rate of £4.30 per child per hour does not go far enough in covering expenses. They receive around half their funding from local authorities, and half from parents. Now, experts fear that thousands could shut their doors and not reopen without significant Government intervention.