Nursery businesses join forces against closures

A group of nursery owners from across the North of England have met as part of a new taskforce created by the FSB to tackle challenges facing the sector.

The taskforce, made up of 12 nursery owners from across the North of England, including Cumbria, Yorkshire, Merseyside, Cheshire and Greater Manchester, agreed to call on the Government and local authorities to help reverse the decline in private day nursery provision across the country.

The group is seeking to build on six recommendations published in research by the FSB last year, which found that many small childcare providers were struggling to make ends meet.

The recommendations were that the the Government should:

• urgently commit to reviewing local authorities’ funding rates for 30 hours, and to carrying out subsequent annual reviews to reflect ongoing changes in the cost of doing business
• create new 100 per cent business rates relief for childcare providers in England
• provide clearer information for parents on the Childcare Choices website on 30 hours and different charging models that providers may use, in order to uphold the reputation of the sector and improve transparency of the policy
• consult with childcare providers and sector representatives on the current rules around entitlement to explore where greater flexibility that benefits both parents and providers might be possible, and
• reduce the cost of mandatory training required by childcare professionals and ensure it is flexible to limit the impact on the business and its provision.

In addition, HMRC should improve the usability of the childcare service website and the customer service support available to parents to register for childcare entitlements, the group said.

Jane Walton, FSB policy chair for pre-school education, who chaired the taskforce meeting at Brighouse, near Leeds, said, ‘It was a very productive meeting, and I am genuinely excited that FSB will be campaigning to help support the sector. Our aim is to address the real challenges facing small childcare providers that want to provide high-quality childcare, but our constrained by the current underfunded system.

‘The majority of childcare providers are small and have to adhere to strict requirements: maintaining staffing levels, having a certain amount of space on site and paying for up-to-date training. 

‘Added to this, the 30 hours entitlement is simply underfunded and doesn’t work for many providers, with utilities, rent and business rates bills placing significant pressure on their costs. And unlike other education providers, nurseries are also liable for VAT – this is also something that we believe needs attention.

‘Frankly, it’s high time Government stepped up and provided the support our nurseries are crying out for. The UK Government could and should follow Scotland’s lead and help take one of the mounting cost pressures off English nurseries. We will now formalise a plan of action with the express aim of effecting real and meaningful change for a forgotten but vitally important sector.’

• The FSB would like to hear from other nursery owners who would like to feed in to the project. Interest can be registered by emailing Jane.Walton@fsb.org.uk