How childcare and support bubbles will change after Nottinghamshire put in Tier 2 lockdown

That means that from Wednesday, October 14, different households are banned from meeting indoors, with a number of other new restrictions also in place.

But many people who rely on friends and relatives for childcare to be able to work have asked what this means for them.

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Registered childcare, education or training is already exempt from the ‘rule of six’ limit on gatherings, as are supervised activities for children including youth groups and children’s playgroups.

That means people can continue to use childminders, after-school clubs and nannies, for example.

People in your support bubble or childcare bubble can also look after your children in private homes and gardens.

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A childcare bubble, which must always involve the same two households, means that someone in one of those households can provide informal childcare, which is unpaid and unregistered, to a child aged 13 or under in the other household.

Friends or family who do not live with you and are not part of your bubble must not visit your home to help with childcare, and the Government has previously said the exemption does not allow for ‘play dates’.

A support bubble can be formed between a single-adult household and another household of any size, and it means they can meet as if they were part of the same household. But once you have formed a support bubble you cannot change who is in that bubble.

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