Oxfordshire pre-schools 'suffering' under mounting costs

Teresa Juggins says things have been "getting worse and worse" since Covid

The manager of a pre-school in Oxfordshire says she is "really concerned" about the future of the sector amid mounting obstacles.

Childcare providers are struggling to recruit and face increased energy, food and staffing costs.

Teresa Juggins, manager of Robin Pre-School in Kidlington, said: "It started out with Covid and it just seems to be getting worse, and worse, and worse."

The government says it is increasing funding paid to childcare providers.

Nurseries that have recently announced they are closing in the county include Pippins Day Nursery in Headington and Stepping Stones at Deer Park in Witney.

The Early Years Alliance has said the sector is facing its worst crisis in recruitment and cost increases in 20 years.

Robin Pre-school, which is a registered charity, gets the bulk of its funding from the government but has been running at a loss for three years.

Ms Juggins said: "Funding doesn't cover the full sessions, parents can't afford to send their children, and we're also having trouble recruiting staff because the wages are so low."

She added: "We haven't raised our fees since before Covid and we feel that we can't do that... parents are not going to have any extra money out there and I do think childcare, especially in the pre-school we run, will suffer."

Sarah Slator has nowhere to send 10-month-old Eira after she found out the nearby Stepping Stones is closing

Sarah Slator, from Witney, currently has nowhere to send her 10-month-old daughter Eira after she found out nearby Stepping Stones was closing.

She said: "I just don't know what people are supposed to do. You have to work. And it just wasn't something I expected.

"My worry to do with childcare was affording it, I didn't expect it to be quite so hard to find anything at all."

Joeli Brearley, from the Pregnant Then Screwed campaign group, told the BBC: "It's such a valuable job for society and yet they get paid appallingly badly.

"We want to ensure this sector is completely sustainable so we don't see these issues with parents turning up and finding out their childcare setting has closed indefinitely."

A government spokeswoman said it had spent more than £4bn in each of the past five years to support families with the cost of childcare and it had not seen a substantial number of parents unable to secure a childcare place.

She added that the government had also announced additional funding for local authorities to increase the hourly rates paid to childcare providers and it was increasing funding to support employers with their costs.