When Boris Johnson announced a third national lockdown at the beginning of January, once again, one particular major lockdown rule didn’t seem to make sense. Schools would close for all ages, even the primary schools Johnson insisted were safe a day prior, but early years settings – that means nurseries, pre-schools and children’s centres – were allowed to stay open.
Almost immediately, Twitter was awash with people questioning the decision. If children mixing in primary schools is now too risky, what’s different about nurseries? If anything, social distancing is more impossible in nurseries than primary schools, so it stands to reason that those that work there – mostly women – would be as at risk as any other school setting.
Now, Boris Johnson has announced that schools won't be opening until at least March 8, but there is no update or change to the policy around nurseries so far.
Labour MP Tulip Siddiq, shadow minister for children and early years, immediately posed that question, promising to write to the government and demand answers about ‘the safety of nurseries and childminding for staff and families, as well as reassurances on financial support, testing and vaccinations.’
Further restrictions: When is Boris Johnson's next speech or announcement?
It seems then, given Boris' last speech had no mention of nurseries, the government is still operating under the prior statements that they have 'no intentions' to close nurseries. As of right now, there are no scheduled plans for Boris Johnson to address the nation about nurseries. However, Downing Street confirmed this month that there would be three updates per week in January. Whether he will discuss nurseries closing remains to be seen.
Are nurseries closed in Scotland?
Yes, unlike the UK, nurseries in Scotland were closed to all but vulnerable children and the children of key workers on 5th January - the same day that schools were closed. It is unclear when schools and nurseries in Scotland will reopen, although Nicola Sturgeon announced yesterday that all lockdown measures, including the closure of schools and nurseries, will remain in place until at least mid February.
Will nurseries close again?
With that in mind, everyone is Googling 'will nurseries close again?', 'are nurseries going to stay open?' or 'are they closing nurseries?'. Pressure is increasing for Boris Johnson to address the questions, but government have officials have remained strong that they have 'no intention' to close nurseries despite reports that they were waiting for data from the impact of keeping them open these last two weeks.
For right now, Education Secretary has affirmed that they've received no advice to close nurseries. 'The advice that we have had is that we can keep early year settings open,' he told MPs on the Education Select Committee today. 'There is no intention to close them. We have not received any advice that is opposed to that.'
Why are nurseries staying open?
This was the question posed by MP Tulip Siddiq last week. In a letter shared with Grazia, she urged MP Vicky Ford, parliamentary under-secretary of state for children and families, to set out the scientific basis for keeping nurseries open - asking if that decision would be reviewed, if staff would be regularly tested and what PPE would be provided to workers. (Crucially, she also asked how the government plans to financially support early years providers given staff absences and decreased demand for childcare.)
Because, what’s somewhat terrifying about all of this is that the decision to keep nurseries open appeared to be economical. According to MP Nadia Whittome, Matt Hancock told MPs nurseries are being kept open because they are private and ‘would otherwise go bust’. ‘The Health Secretary should not be making public health decisions based on private profit,’ she tweeted.
Scientists seem to be in agreement. Virologist Professor Calum Semple told the BBC that the decision to keep early years settings open was ‘not a scientific one’. ‘If we’ve gotten to the point of closing the universities, secondary schools and primary schools on the grounds of public health, then I would be looking to close all other non-essential activities,’ he said. ‘It may be that a political decision has been made here that nurseries are essential. But it’s not a scientific one.’
‘It may be that a political decision has been made here... it’s not a scientific one.’
But according to the government themselves, the decision was guided by science. After backlash spread, the Department for Education released a document detailing their rationale.
‘Early years settings remain low risk environments for children and staff,’ it states. ‘0-5 year olds continue to have the lowest confirmed rates of coronavirus of all age groups, and there is no evidence that the new variant of coronavirus disproportionately affects young children. Evidence shows that pre-school children are less susceptible to infection and are not playing a driving role in transmission. There is no evidence the new strain of the virus causes more serious illness in either children or adults and there continues to be strong evidence that children are much less susceptible to severe clinical disease than older people.
‘PHE advice remains that the risk of transmission and infection is low if early years settings follow the system of controls, which reduce risks and create inherently safer environments,’ the document continued. ‘Early years settings have been open to all children since 1 June and there is no evidence that the early years sector has contributed to a rise in virus cases within the community. Early evidence from SAGE showed that early years provision had a smaller relative impact on transmission rate than primary schools, which in turn had a smaller relative impact than secondary schools.’
Dr Lydia Yarlott, paediatrician and founder of Juno - an app that gives parents instant access to paediatric consultants - agrees.
'Fortunately, throughout the pandemic and the emergence of the new variant, young children have been spared the worst effects of the virus,' Dr Yarlott told Grazia. 'It’s very rare that children get seriously ill with Covid-19, and there’s evidence that they don’t spread it as much as adults do either. The effect of closing institutions such as schools and nurseries on transmission of the virus has to be balanced with the adverse effects on children’s wellbeing, and the government has made the decision that the benefits of keeping nurseries open outweigh any potential risks.
'Parents should ensure that they keep to social distancing guidelines when dropping off and picking up their children, and nursery staff should follow similar precautions,' she advises. 'Keeping Early Years settings open is important for children’s development and offers vital childcare support for families when they need it most.'
'However, it’s very important that parents seek advice about their child if they are worried,' Dr Yarlott concludes. 'NHS paediatric services are still available for help and advice in and out of hours if they have any concerns'
Financial support for nurseries is still an issue. According to MP Tulip Siddiq's letter, childcare settings ran at a significant loss during the last lockdown, receiving less than £4 of income for every £5 of costs according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).
‘Though early years providers can remain open in this lockdown, the new restrictions are likely to wipe out much of the demand for childcare, which was already substantially lower than usual,’ she said. ‘Allowing early years settings to stay open will not be enough to ensure their survival, as there were already 20,000 providers at risk of closure within six months after the Spring term funding changes. To proceed with these changes would be a death knell for many nurseries and childminding businesses, and I urge you to rethink this now completely untenable decision.’
A survey carried out by the Early Years Alliance in November found that 25% of childcare providers believed that they would crease to be viable within six months if the government change their approach to early years funding next year. So, open or not, with early years provides unable to access the Covid workforce fund, it seems nurseries are receiving the brunt of bad decision making more than ever this time around.
Petition to close nurseries
A petition calling for all nurseries and early-years settings to be closed during lockdown has had over 100,000 signatures so far. The petition can be found here.
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