Further Childcare Assistance - Joint statement Minister of Education & Minister of Health

This afternoon (9/4/2020) The Education Minister provided a statement around further support available to childcare facilities, please see summary below.

  • A bespoke Approved Home Childcarer Scheme aimed at enabling keyworkers to have their childcare needs met in their own homes;

  • Enhanced support for registered childminders who provide childcare for key workers and vulnerable children;

  • Support for registered daycare settings to remain open for key workers and vulnerable children in locations where key worker parents need them most and for those settings which have been forced to close; 

  • Childcare advice and guidance for parents who are keyworkers, including a helpline; and

  • Advice and guidance for registered settings and providers.

 
The Minister went on to state that “The package of emergency measures also seeks to address the issue of sectoral sustainability by developing a support measure for registered settings that have closed to ensure they can re-open now and, if not needed now, after the crisis. This measure will interact with financial assistance measures announced by the Chancellor and administered by the Department for the Economy which childcare settings and childminders may be able to avail of.”

Additionally the Minister also stated that  “I hope that the measures we have announced today will provide much needed reassurance to parents of vulnerable children and for those who are key workers that a range of approved and registered childcare options are available, and importantly that the additional costs of keeping key aspects of provision operational during this time, will not be passed on to them.”
 
The joint statement released by both the Minister for Health and the Minster for Education providing further detail on policy interventions to support childcare through this period can be found here: 

https://www.education-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/education/Childcare%20-%20Joint%20Ministerial%20Announcement%20on%20emergency%20childcare%20provision%20-%209%20April%2020.pdf

Craig Calvert