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<p>Ensuring working parents and carers have access to the childcare they need remains
a priority for the government. That is why we ensured that all before and after-school
clubs, holiday clubs, and other out-of-school settings were able to continue to stay
open for children eligible to attend school on-site, for the duration of the national
lockdown, i.e. for critical worker children, where the provision was reasonably necessary
to support them to work, undertake education or access medical care, and for vulnerable
children and young people. For this reason, we have also extended the eligibility
for attendance as of 8 March, in line with the wider reopening of schools on 8 March,
with all parents now able to access this provision for their children for certain
essential purposes, including those outlined above, with vulnerable children and young
people able to continue accessing provision under any circumstance.</p><p>As set out
in the ‘COVID-19 Response – Spring 2021’ guidance, from 29 March, in line with the
Easter school holidays, out-of-school settings and wraparound childcare providers
will also be able to offer outdoor provision to all children, without any restrictions
on the purposes for which they may attend. The guidance can be accessed here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-response-spring-2021"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-response-spring-2021</a>.
Indoor provision will also be available regardless of circumstance to vulnerable children
and young people, as well as children eligible for free school meals, where they are
attending as part of the Department for Education’s Holiday Activities and Food programme.
Other children will continue to be able to access indoor provision, where the provision
is necessary for certain essential purposes, as already mentioned. We have updated
our protective measures guidance for the sector, which outlines eligibility and aims
to support providers to allow them to open for as many children as safely as possible.
This guidance can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protective-measures-for-holiday-or-after-school-clubs-and-other-out-of-school-settings-for-children-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protective-measures-for-holiday-or-after-school-clubs-and-other-out-of-school-settings-for-children-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak</a>.</p><p>
</p><p>In addition to this, we have also ensured that there are several other ways
that parents and carers can continue to access the childcare they need. This includes:</p><ul><li>Childminders,
which remain open for children in early years, children of critical workers and vulnerable
children and young people.</li><li>Nannies, which are still able to continue to provide
services, including in the home.</li><li>Parents are also able to form a childcare
bubble with one other household for the purposes of informal childcare, where the
child is under the age of 14.</li><li>Some households will also be able to benefit
from being in a support bubble, which allows single adult households to join another
household.</li></ul><p> </p><p>We have also encouraged all local authorities to consider
using local grants made available to them by government to help bolster this part
of the childcare sector in their areas, to safeguard sufficient childcare provision.
This includes the £594 million discretionary fund for councils and the devolved administrations
to support local businesses that may not have been eligible for other support during
the current national lockdown, as well as funding streams such as the Holiday Activities
and Food Programme, aimed to support disadvantaged children. The expanded programme,
which comprises a £220 million fund to be delivered through grants to local authorities,
will be expanded to reach all local authority areas during the upcoming Easter, summer,
and Christmas holidays this year.</p><p>However, where parents are still finding it
difficult to access sufficient childcare, we recommend that they contact their local
authority’s family information services. Local authorities are required by legislation
to secure sufficient free early years provision and paid-for childcare places, so
far as is reasonably practicable, for working parents, or parents who are studying
or training for employment, for children aged 0 to 14.</p>
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