Early Years Provider Updates | COVID-19 Edition 1

This article has been brought to you by Slough Borough Council's Service Lead For Early Years and Prevention, Michael Jarrett, for the attention of the Early Years sector.

Please find below information for all settings regarding the operation of provision and closures during Covid-19.

Following our telephone calls on Friday please keep the Early Years Service updated regarding your activity status, if you have decided to close since you spoke to us please email earlyyears@slough.gov.uk or call 01753 476554 or 01753 476583.

Attendance

All settings who have remained open will need to send the local authority details of the children attending your provision. This information must include children who were on roll and children who have started at your setting due to the Coronavirus situation. This information must be submitted in order to ensure funded early education payments during this time. Please see the attached template, if you require a word version please email clare.thompson@slough.gov.uk.

Settings which remain open for some children (those of key workers and vulnerable children*) should do the following:

1. Complete the ‘record of children in attendance form’ in the second tab in this spreadsheet.  This will include children of critical workers and vulnerable children and may include children that are not enrolled at the setting. You may also have children who are not enrolled at your setting; you should record them on this form too.
2. Submit your settings attendance by completing the spreadsheet and then password protect it and send to earlyyears@slough.gov.uk or telephone 01753 476554 or 475683, childminders please call Danielle Mercer on 07770 936674 or Aneesa Younus on 079232 60397 if you are unable to email in the details. Please don not email personal details with out password protecting the document first. Please send us the password in a separate email.
3. Save and retain a copy of the ‘record of children in attendance form’ at the end of each day in a separate tab within this spreadsheet.  Add the date to each new tab. Copy and paste the table into a new tab each new day, ensuring the formulas are also pasted over, to ensure your aggregate data can be calculated. 
4. For each new day, complete and save a new ‘record of children in attendance form’.  Submit the totals every Friday.

Support for businesses through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

Under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, all UK employers will be able to access support to continue paying part of their employees’ salary for those employees that would otherwise have been laid off during this crisis.

How to access the scheme

You will need to:

• designate affected employees as ‘furloughed workers,’ and notify your employees of this change - changing the status of employees remains subject to existing employment law and, depending on the employment contract, may be subject to negotiation
• submit information to HMRC about the employees that have been furloughed and their earnings through a new online portal (HMRC will set out further details on the information required)

HMRC will reimburse 80% of furloughed workers wage costs, up to a cap of £2,500 per month. HMRC are working urgently to set up a system for reimbursement. Existing systems are not set up to facilitate payments to employers.

If your business needs short term cash flow support, you may be eligible for a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-support-for-businesses#support-for-businesses-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme  

Furloughed Workers – for employees

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-guidance-for-employees

Business Rates

Slough Council recognises that businesses are facing unprecedented times. We will do everything we can to help businesses survive and mitigate the impacts on their workforce.

The situation is unfolding very rapidly so it is vital that businesses are helped with up to date and accurate information to help them receive the support that will be on offer, nationally and locally. This will include:

• a statutory sick pay relief package for SMEs
• a 12-month business rates holiday for all retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in England
• small business grant funding of £10,000 for all business in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief
• grant funding of £25,000 for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses with property with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000
• the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme to support long-term viable businesses who may need to respond to cash-flow pressures by seeking additional finance
• the HMRC Time To Pay Scheme

Full details can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-support-for-businesses.

There is no action for you. This will apply to your next council tax bill in April 2020. However, local authorities may have to reissue your bill to exclude the business rate charge. They will do this as soon as possible. The business rates team hope to rebill these businesses in the next 10 days to reflect the Governments schemes.  If anybody is in difficulty then please get in touch with the business rates team on 01753 772220.

Health and Safety

It has been decided that the H&S Team will answer COVID19 related safety queries from all schools and nurseries in the borough.  If you need advice please contact the health and safety team via email _healthandsafety@slough.gov.uk or tel: 01753 875046.

Supporting children with SEND

In recent days, nasen has been receiving numerous questions about how school closures and the consequences of COVID-19 more broadly will impact on children and young people with SEND https://nasen.org.uk/news/covid-19-important-information-and-faqs.html.  

Government updates

Overview of all coronavirus guidance for schools and other education settings | https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-schools-and-other-educational-settings?utm_source=8eded47e-b590-4422-9b63-565cdb187119&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate

Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance on vulnerable children and young people | https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-vulnerable-children-and-young-people/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-vulnerable-children-and-young-people

School Closures (including other educational settings) | https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-school-closures/guidance-for-schools-about-temporarily-closing  

Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance on vulnerable children and young people | https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-vulnerable-children-and-young-people?utm_source=43db9677-ce2a-4e29-8eb6-c9eb1c5c7fcd&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate