More than one in 10 settings will be forced to shut without more help to pay energy bills

The Early Years Alliance (EYA) survey, which received 1,265 responses, found that more than one in ten (11 per cent) nurseries and pre-schools and over one in 20 (6 per cent) childminders would likely have to close if financial support for energy costs from the Government does not extend past March next year.

Nearly seven in ten (68 per cent) nurseries and pre-schools and three in five (61 per cent) childminders surveyed by the EYA said they would have to increase fees for parents over the next year without further support.

Since 1 October, a six-month energy price cap for businesses has been in place to help industries manage rising gas and electricity costs. From the same date, a separate six-month cap for households has been enforced which limits the cost of energy to £2,500 for an ‘average’ household.  

Both schemes will end in March, when the Government will introduce targeted support for households in need of support and ‘vulnerable’ industries, with details of this support yet to be announced.

Two-thirds (78 per cent) of childminder survey respondents and four in five (77 per cent) of nursery and pre-school respondents said they did not believe that six months of support was long enough.

Other findings reveal:

• 99 per cent of nurseries and pre-schools called for the early years to be included in the Government’s list of ‘vulnerable’ business sectors set to receive targeted support beyond the initial six-month period.
• 96 per cent of childminders stated that they believed home-based businesses should be given support for energy costs above and beyond the general energy price guarantee for households.
• When asked what steps settings have had to take over the past year as a result of rising energy costs, more than three in five nurseries and pre-schools and eight in ten of childminders said that they have had to reduce energy usage at their setting. Almost half of childminders and around two-thirds of pre-schools and nurseries have already had to increase fees.
• Nearly nine in ten nurseries and pre-schools and more than nine in ten childminders believe the Government hasn’t provided enough overall support to help the sector manage sharp increases in energy prices.

'I have asked parents to leave a thick jumper and trousers here.'

One survey respondent said, ‘I have asked parents to leave a thick jumper and trousers here in case needed. We also limit the energy we use out of business hours and we have the heating turned off in our bedroom so there is more available for the children attending.’

Another commented, ‘Looking after children, it is not possible to reduce energy costs in the same way normal households are expected to do. We have to maintain high standards and a safe, warm, healthy environment … We are expected, as part of covid safe measures, to have ventilation permanently, which again results in heat being lost. In order to work to expected, registered standards, our energy usage and costs are high.’

'Unless more action is taken, rising gas and electricity costs could be a nail in the coffin for many more settings.'

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said, ‘We’re only at the start of the winter months and already nurseries, pre-schools and childminders have been forced to reduce energy usage, cut costs and raise fees just to keep their doors open.

'We know that, even before the current crisis, many settings were hanging by a thread as they battled through years of underfunding. There’s no doubt that unless more action is taken, rising gas and electricity costs could be a nail in the coffin for many more high-quality settings across the country.

‘It is vital that, at the very least, nurseries and pre-schools are included in the Government’s list of “vulnerable” industries that is set to receive further support beyond March, and that Government recognises the additional pressures on home-based businesses like childminding settings and provides the additional financial support they need to remain sustainable.’