Council response to Early Years criticism.
In a recent article in the Havering Daily, early years providers have been criticising the Government and local authority for their lack of support.
In response,Councillor Robert Benham, Deputy Leader of Havering Council and Cabinet Member for Education, Children and Families, told the Havering Daily:
“We have been supporting early years providers through grants and training, well-being support calls to managers which started in January and making PPE available, which has been free since Christmas due to stock received from London Resilience Forum.”
“We know how tough it has been for early years providers during the COVID-19 pandemic and how uncertain everything is at the moment.
“We are continuing to support them with a number of packages and have been on hand to help them get access to what they need at this time.
“This includes providing discretionary grants and a COVID Recovery Planning Guide.”
“We are also making calls to early years providers managers every fortnight to keep in touch with them and also providing PPE free of charge.
“The roll out of PPE has started this week [w/c 25 January] and those providers who ordered early, have already received their supplies.
“We will continue to encourage them to contact us if they need further support.”
Support provided by Havering Council for Early Years Providers during the COVID-19 pandemic includes:
•Provided discretionary grants to those applicable
•From June 2020, provided a COVID Recovery Planning Guide for Early Years and Childcare Providers
•Have made a range of information available for all providers to support their businesses via the HES Portal (Early Years Resource Page) of which they are able to access the latest briefings for businesses in Havering.
•Providing FREE PPE to all early years providers – roll out from w/c 25 January
•Access to the Business Impact Assessment so they can notify the Council on the impact of Coronavirus on their business
•Access to the Department of Education Business Map/ Provider webinars
•Once a fortnight every provider is sent a Business Support email with various support links they can access to see what they may be eligible for
•Every newly registered childcare provider is also advised of business support available
•Made Small Business Grant Fund available through the Economic Development Team
•Provided the first round of the Self-employment income support grant.
•Comprehensive training and briefings schedule free of charge (including Paediatric First Aid, DSL Safeguarding, adult and child mental health, Public Health, Leadership and Management)
