Closing your early years and childcare setting

You may have many reasons why your provision may need to close. 

Contact us to request targeted support. We can then provide a business discussion or visit to help you talk through the processes and decisions. We can provide support to either help you stay open and sustainable or to help you through the process of closing your provision. 

If you have made the decision to close your provision, you will need to consider any implications for financial contracts such as notice periods on leases or rents. You may also need to sell a property.

Check all your paperwork and ensure you know any notice periods you need to give and plan for this financially. Contact an EYCA if you require support.

It is important that you give families adequate notice you are closing.

Once you know when you will need to close and have created a plan, you can notify parents and families so that they have time to find alternative provision.

The Family Information Service (FIS) can support with helping families find alternative childcare provision.

You will need to contact Ofsted with your registration number and security information to let them know you plan to close your registration.

If you are a childminder registered with an agency, you should contact them to let them know that you plan to close your registration.

Once you have decided on the date of closure, you will need to let the Family Information Service (FIS) and the Early Years Funded Entitlement (EYFE) teams know.

It is important you let them know about your closure in advance, so they can offer parents or carers support with their Extra Help to Find Childcare service.

Contact the FIS and EYFE teams

You will need to ensure the EYFE payments follow any children leaving your provision by following the conditions in the provider declaration.

You will also need to plan for any payments from the EYFE that may be made after closure dates. The FIS can support you further with any funding queries.

When an early years and childcare setting closes, some families may need additional support to find suitable alternative childcare.

If any families need support finding alternative provision if their early years and childcare setting is due to close or has closed, they can contact the FIS who can support families to find alternative provision to meet their individual needs.

Please contact the FIS as soon as possible regarding your setting closure, so they are aware that there will be children requiring early years and childcare spaces elsewhere.

If you plan to sell your business or equipment, we can support by letting other providers know within the county. Contact the setting support mailbox for your area, to let us know if you would like us to add this to the newsletter.

You should seek legal advice and services for advice and support with the sale of your business.

You will need to make plans for closures or sale of any business or provision. If you are a limited company, you will need to notify Companies House and submit accounts and if appropriate dissolve the company.

If you are a committee run group, have you followed the constitution and voted on the action as required? Settings should seek appropriate legal and financial advice as needed.

If you require any further advice or support for the closure of your provision, contact the setting support mailbox for your area.

There is a closing your setting e-learning module available as part of the early years and childcare training and support programme.

The course gives information on what to do when closing your setting, either on a temporary or a permanent basis. You can find information about this course in the self-led online training courses section of the training and support programme page.