The Early Years Alliance has launched a new survey for early years providers, in order to gain an up-to-date understanding of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the sector as the Government prepares to launch a Comprehensive Spending Review later this autumn.

The survey, which follows two previous surveys carried out by the Alliance during lockdown (in April and May respectively), looks at a range of issues, including how the pandemic has impacted occupancy levels and finances, challenges accessing Covid-19 tests for staff and children, variations in council approaches to autumn term funding, and provider forecasts for the months to come.

The survey, which is anonymous, will close on Friday 9 October and is available at: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/EYcovidAutumn2020.

Commenting, Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said:

‘We know that things have changed considerably for early years providers over recent months, with some seeing an improvement in their long-term outlook, but many others facing significant new challenges.

‘As such, we are asking all providers to take five minutes to respond to our latest survey to help ensure that we have an up-to-date picture of what is happening in the sector in order to inform our ongoing discussions with both the Department for Education and the Treasury.

‘With the Spending Review around the corner, there is no better time to ensure the views and concerns of the early years sector are not only heard, but lead to meaningful change.’