Nurseries and childminders will no longer need to report Covid cases to Ofsted

From today (Monday), childcare providers do not have to notify Ofsted of any Covid-19 cases in their setting, whether in staff or children.

The news comes amid record-breaking reports of cases of Covid in early years settings as of the end of January, with Ofsted figures showing that there were more than 5,000 notifications from early years settings for the week of 24 January.

Ofsted said that the Department for Education has decided that from 21 February, if you are a childcare provider, you are no longer required to notify Ofsted, or the childminder agency with which you are registered, of any Covid-19 cases in the setting, whether that is of a child or staff member.

Settings also do not have to submit notifications for any cases that have happened in the last 14 days.

Meanwhile, official statistics on reported Covid-19 notifications published by Ofsted on Monday show that 5,189 settings reported one or more cases of Covid in the week beginning the 24 January – the highest ever recorded.

For the week of 31 January, this figure fell slightly to 4,559 – however, this is the second highest reported.

Meanwhile, statistics from the National Day Nurseries Association weekly poll show that while cases are reducing in early years settings, Covid is still affecting absences among staff and children.

According to the survey, 4.5 per cent of respondents also said they had half or more of their staff off work in the second week of February.

Source: NDNA, survey for week commencing 7 February 2022

Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA), said, ‘Our survey data for the second week in February shows that the absence rates for staff and children are starting to come down. This will be a major relief for nurseries and parents but with absence still around 9 per cent this shows the impact of the pandemic is not completely over for settings or children.

‘At the same time we have seen record numbers of settings reporting Covid cases to Ofsted at the end of last month. While settings will be relieved that the administrative burden of reporting cases will be eased following today’s announcement, it shows that staff and children are still catching and being ill with Covid-19. 

‘Nurseries are still telling us that Covid is impacting on how they staff and resource their setting and this must be taken into account by Ofsted inspectors when any visits take place; either by allowing deferrals or taking into account the pressures that settings and staff are under.’

Tanuku added, ‘Additional grant support in Scotland will be welcomed by the sector but won’t fill all the gaps and pressures that this latest wave of cases has created. At the same time, we need Ministers in England to hear the concerns of the sector and not reintroduce business rates bills in Spring. We need all governments to focus on addressing the recruitment and retention crisis in early years so providers can get back to focussing on delivering the best care and early education to all our children.’

The Ofsted guidance change in reporting Covid cases comes as Boris Johnson is expected to announce the ‘living with Covid’ strategy in the House of Commons this afternoon.

The prime minister is holding a press conference later today in which he is expected to announce an end to mandatory isolation in England and big reductions in mass testing.

Under the plans the legal requirement for anyone with Covid to isolate will end a month earlier than planned.

However, reports suggested that the cabinet meeting to sign off the prime minister’s plans has been delayed this morning due to a row between the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, and the Health Secretary, Sajid Javid, over funding for free testing.

However, it is unclear who will remain eligible for free testing, including workers in health and social care.

Meanwhile, Paul Scully, a business minister, told Times Radio that free testing would be phased out and that employers would have to pay for testing and decide on policies for self-isolation for staff.

‘We don’t test for flu, we don’t test for other diseases, and if the variants continue to be as mild as Omicron then there’s a question mark as to whether people will go through that regular testing anyway,’ Scully told Times Radio.

‘But if employers want to be paying (for) tests and continuing a testing regime within their workplace, then that will be for them to pay at that point,’ he said, adding that while the impact on the virus on clinically vulnerable people was a concern, ‘we’re not going to be having a testing regime for the next 50 years’.

• It remains a legal requirement under the Early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework to report cases of serious illness. Early years settings should notify Ofsted as soon as practical, and in any case within 14 days of a notifiable event happening.
• For information about what is classed as a notifiable event or serious incident and what to tell Ofsted, see guidance on reporting a serious childcare incident.