She says that the current rules treat childminders 'unfairly' as they can accept children from a household with a positive Covid-19 case, but must shut their business if a member of their household is self-isolating.
Currently, if you are identified as a close contact of a positive case of Covid-19 and have had your second vaccination at least two weeks previously, or are under 18 years of age, you will no longer be legally required to isolate. This means children from a household with a positive Covid-19 case could continue to attend a childminder’s setting.
However, Government guidance states that for a childminder who usually looks after children in their own home, if a household member is self-isolating, the childminder may not continue to provide childcare if:
- the self-isolation is due to receiving a positive test result, and that positive case is normally or currently resident in the childminder’s house
- the household member is showing symptoms of Covid-19.
This means a childminder from a household with a positive Covid-19 case must stop providing childcare from the day the first symptoms started, or the day the test was taken if there were no symptoms, and for the next 10 days.
‘The way childminders have been treated is really unfair,’ Ms Sarney said. ‘We had all been counting down to the 16 August when the Government said we would no longer have to self-isolate. The new rules should have meant we could keep our businesses up and running after more than a year of losing money, having to close, and jumping through hoops. But then we found out we have to accept children from positive households but aren’t allowed to open if we have a positive case in our own house.
‘Obviously, lots of people have been financially affected throughout the pandemic, but no one else is in the same situation as us on this. Everyone else can move on with their employment, but childminders have been forgotten. We’re the bottom of the pecking order.’
According to data from the Department for Education (DfE), between 27 November and 20 December 2020 childminders lost an average of £230 a week in parental fees. Meanwhile, the Early Years Alliance found that previous self-isolation rules forced more than four in 10 nurseries, pre-schools and childminders in England to fully and/or partially close at least once in June and July 2021.
Ms Sarney, who has been childminding for six years and currently has eight children on roll at her setting, said, ‘We are self-employed, and if we don’t work, we don’t earn. We are so exposed to the virus with children coming in and out, and have to just trust that parents will respect us and won’t put us at risk. Of course, some childminders are particularly vulnerable, but a lot of us just want to get back to doing what we love.’
She has set up a Facebook group for childminders in Bedfordshire who are concerned about the situation, and has urged other childminders to contact their local MPs.
‘Childminders provide a valuable service for the community, and people need us. I know so many childminders who have already quit. I feel like lots have given up because they feel like there’s no support. We’ve been let down so many times. But if we all get together, someone might listen.’
The Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years (PACEY) has provided guidance on the situation for its members, including a scenario chart, Covid-19 risk assessment resource, and an outbreak management plan.
'More needs to be done so childminding businesses can operate sustainability'
Liz Bayram, PACEY chief executive, said, ‘We’re hearing from many of our PACEY members that they feel the new position on self-isolation for childminders is contradictory. Whilst we understand that the priority must be to keep Covid cases under control and children safe, more needs to be done to ensure that childminding businesses can operate sustainably, after a year and a half of frequent temporary closures.
‘We have asked the Department for Education to recognise that many childminders can implement mitigations to keep children completely separate from a positive case in the childminder’s household. Allowing fully-vaccinated childminders to operate in this scenario would minimise disruption for families and prevent the financial burden of the business having to close. It would also go some way towards making the current guidance less contradictory. If a childminder is allowed to care for children who are close contacts of someone with the virus, then they also should be able to put in place steps that allow them – if they become a close contact – to keep their service open.
‘We would also want to advise any childminder who is worried about accepting a "close contact" child into their setting, to discuss these worries with the parent concerned, to decide what is best for all the families using that service. Childminders are able to make reasonable judgements depending on their unique circumstances.’