Self-Employment Income Support Scheme extended for a further 3 months but tens of thousands of childminders will still struggle to survive

The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has announced that the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme has been extended for a further 3 months.

The scheme was due to expire at the end of May but will now be extended to cover June, July and August.

A lower grant of up to £6570 will be available to self-employed workers, based on 70% of average net profits, in a similar way to the first grant.

Applications can be submitted in August with further details to follow from the government.

Richard Conway, CEO & Founder of Childcare.co.uk said:

"While Childcare.co.uk are broadly pleased that many of our self-employed childminder members will benefit from another Self-Employment Income Support Scheme grant payment of 70% of net profit for June, July and August, we are concerned about the sustainability of those self-employed childminders who are not eligible to claim from the scheme.

"We are also being contacted on a daily basis by childminder members who are expressing concern about how their already precarious monthly incomes will be impacted by the new ‘test and trace’ tracking system, which will close down childminder settings when anyone linked to them tests positive for coronavirus.

"We further note that the Treasury has yet to announce how Local Authorities will be advised to pay 2, 3 and 4 year old funding in September if, for example, children usually attend 2 settings through the week to support parental working patterns or if settings are opening and closing due to ‘track and trace’ advice."

Earlier today, we sent an open letter to Rishi Sunak, Boris Johnson and other government ministers urging for more financial support for the early years sector.

We will comment further when we have more details about the grant extension and how it will impact our members, many of whom may be forced to look elsewhere for work if they are not offered further financial support if opening and closing regularly without symptoms of coronavirus following ‘test and trace’ advice becomes the norm.

I have been working as a childminder or am about to open on 1st June - Can I still get the grant?

Yes, qualifying individuals are able to apply for the grant even if they have been working through any or all of the period.