While the day of the state funeral on 19 September has been declared a bank holiday, Department for Education guidance for education and childcare settings issued yesterday states that it is up to early years settings to decide whether to stay open or close on the day.
This had led to concerns on social media about what this would mean regarding funding that early years settings receive from local authorities for funded places.
The Department for Education has now confirmed that early years providers that close on the day of the Queen's funeral should still receive early entitlement funding from their local authority.
The specific section of the guidance for early years on the national mourning period states, ‘As with other bank holidays, it is at the discretion of individual settings whether they close or stay open.’
On Facebook, Thorne Manor Day Nursery & Pre-School said, ‘Treating as a normal Bank Holiday day - Paying staff their “usual” hours if they work a Monday. Try to offer funded hours elsewhere but being full this is difficult. Prioritising Families in need in swapping sessions.’
Greg Wolff, director Mighty Oaks Day Nursery & Preschool, told Nursery World, ‘As a setting, we aim to reflect the values of respect and care.
‘The decision we made to close the nursery was a simple one under these current, tragic, circumstances and was made prior to the date of the funeral being announced, with parents being advised that this is what we were doing to allow them to make alternative arrangements if required.
‘We have no wish to penalise either staff or parents so decided that we would pay the staff for the day as an added holiday day and that we would offer all parents with a booking on the day of the funeral a substitute session, where possible. Where this is not possible, we will offer a credit on their accounts.
‘Our staff have, again, said that they feel strongly supported by our decision, something that we particularly value in this time where recruitment and retention of staff is such a huge issue for early years settings.’
Neil Leitch, CEO of the Early Years Alliance, said, ‘We welcome confirmation from the Department for Education that early years providers should still receive local authority funding on Monday whether they are open or closed. We know that many of those who work in the sector will be keen to pay their respects on this important day, and settings should not be penalised for deciding how they wish to honour such a significant event.
‘Ultimately, early years settings understand the needs of their local community better than anyone and they will know how to balance the needs of parents or carers with giving educators, parents and children the chance to mark the day in the most appropriate way.’
Purnima Tanuku, National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA)’s chief executive, said, ‘Nurseries worked hard to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee with their children and we know many people working in early years will want to be able to pay their respects on the day of the Queen’s funeral.
‘Many settings are also trying to support their parents, especially those who are key workers and need to work on the bank holiday.
‘This bank holiday was unexpected, so everyone is trying to make the right decisions for their own particular setting, their staff and families.
‘That's why it is so important that they have clear guidance. NDNA has made resources available for early years practitioners to help them to commemorate the occasion appropriately and given out information to help them make a sensible decision regarding the bank holiday.
‘We welcome reassurances from the Department for Education that settings won’t be penalised on funded places if they decide to close.’
DfE update
Subsequently, the DfE has this evening published an update on guidance for the state funeral and bank holiday.
As with other bank holidays, it is at the discretion of individual settings whether they close or stay open, it said. There is no government expectation for early years and childcare settings to remain open on the bank holiday, 'although settings will appreciate that more parents may need to work that day than on a typical bank holiday.'
In the update, the DfE said that its statutory guidance states that local authorities should ensure providers are not penalised through withdrawal of funding for short term closures of a setting, for example, as a result of local or national elections or damage to the premises.
'Therefore, providers should not be penalised for closing as a result of the additional bank holiday, as is currently the case with other bank holidays,' said the DfE. 'However, providers should be mindful of the impact on parents if they choose to close, and should be confident they can still provide the total number of hours parents agreed with the provider in their parental declaration.'