The statistics published by Ofsted show the number of joiners and leaves in the early years sector between the start of April 2020 and the end of March 2021.
There was an overall loss of 442 nurseries between April 2020 and the end of March 2021, while more than 2,185 childminders left the sector.
This January saw the largest net loss with 1,772 providers closing between the end of December and January. Of these, 910 were home childcarers (i.e nannies voluntarily registered with Ofsted), 768 were childminders, and 94 were nurseries.
In the category of childcare on non-domestic premises (i.e nurseries and pre-schools) there were 27,619 providers at the start of April 2020, but this had dropped to 27,177 at the end of March 2021, a net loss of 442.
For childminders the figures are even higher with 36,972 childminders registered with Ofsted at the start of April 2020, down to 34,787 at the end of March, a loss of 2,185 childminders.
Home childcarer numbers have fallen from a total of 10,233 at the start of April 2020 to 9,848 at the end of March.
In total there were 75,068 early years and childcare providers in the sector at the start of April 2020, but this has fallen to 72,223 at the end of March, a loss of 2,845 providers.
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) said, ‘These latest nursery closure figures are worrying for the sector but also for families who rely on childcare places so they can return to the workplace.
‘During the pandemic, thousands of childcare providers including hundreds of nurseries have been forced to shut down. Their income simply did not cover their increasing costs. This means that thousands of families are now unable to access local places for their children or they have faced disruption to their usual routine.
‘Children have faced enough upheaval over the past year and early years professionals are working very hard to support them with high quality education and care. But they can only support them if they are financially sustainable.
‘Education recovery must start in a child’s earliest years because that’s where the investment can make the biggest impact and is crucial for improving children’s outcomes.’
Labour has also highlighted the closures of early years providers, noting that more than 2,000 providers closed between the end of December 2020 and the end of March.
There were 74,130 childcare providers in England as of 31 December 2020. The latest figures show that there were 72,043 childcare providers as of 31 March 2021. This amounts to a loss of 2,087 childcare providers since the start of the year.
Tulip Siddiq MP, Labour’s shadow minister for children and early years, said, ‘Labour has repeatedly warned that a decade of Conservative neglect and the impact of the pandemic could force thousands of early years providers to shut their doors forever. This worrying data shows that our worst fears are being realised.’
Referring to the mention of early years in yesterday’s Queen’s Speech, she added, ‘The Government’s rhetoric on early years has not been matched by reality and today’s promises will ring hollow for the thousands of parents struggling to find affordable early years education, childcare and support.
‘Ministers need to start listening to families and come forward with a proper plan rebuild this essential infrastructure after a decade of neglect.’
Commenting, Neil Leitch, Early Years Alliance chief executive, said, 'The fact that more than 2,000 early years providers have closed since the start of this year is deeply concerning but is of no surprise those familiar with the sector. It is the obvious result of years of paltry, below-inflation funding rises that have resulted in the substantial underfunding of early education entitlements.
'When combined with a lack of Government action to combat the loss of income and additional costs resulting from the pandemic, we have an early years emergency on our hands. Unless this enormous and clearly unsustainable pressure is eased now, this unwelcome trend will only continue.'
- The statistics, Joiners and leavers in the childcare sector March 2021, are available here
