Asda offers 5,000 nursery customers priority access to delivery slots
Supermarket offers priority access to “essential childcare services”
Ofsted pauses assurance inspections until 8 March
Assurance inspections will not begin again until at least 8 March
One in five early years workers considering leaving the sector
Pressure of Covid-19 and lack of support hits early years workers
Call for more transparency on childcare fee “top-ups”
Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman calls for better oversight of charging practices
Early years practitioners struggle to access school places for children
Alliance reveals that childcare staff have been refused places at schools
Ofsted data reveals huge increase in number of Covid-19 cases at early years settings
More than 1,200 providers report Covid-19 cases in first week of January
Half of practitioners don’t feel safe at work, according to new Alliance survey
Nearly one in 10 staff have tested positive since 1 December 2020
IFS says that new census data will result in “significant” drop in government spending
Funding will be “tightest” where there is most demand for childcare
PHE clarifies contact testing rules for early years
Providers cannot use daily tests as alternative to self-isolation
DfE publishes new census guidance
Children who are “reasonably expected to attend” can be recorded in census
DfE confirms that PVI settings will not be provided with home testing kits
PVIs given “priority access” to testing centres
DfE data shows huge decline in early years attendance
Attendance at just 37% of pre-Covid rates