As Nottingham moves ever closer to a local lockdown, families will naturally wonder what the rules will be around childcare.
In order to work this out, we need to look at what the rules are in other areas which are already under tighter restrictions.
That's because Nottingham's public health director said yesterday that she expected the city to be under a local lockdown by Friday due to a spike in Covid cases - and it would look similar to lockdowns in Leicester and the north-west.
There are special rules for families looking after children and we'll go into these here...
What is a childcare bubble?
A childcare bubble is when one person from one household joins up with another household to provide informal childcare.
"Informal" means the childcare is unpaid and unregistered.
This might be a grandfather who visits his son's house every afternoon to look after the grandchildren.
In this example, the grandfather would not be allowed to look after any other children, and the household could not ask another family member to look after the children.
It is an exclusive arrangement.
Will childcare bubbles still be allowed if Nottingham goes into local lockdown?
We can't say for certain - but judging by how this has been dealt with in Leicester and the north-west it looks almost certain that childcare bubbles will still be allowed if Nottingham goes into lockdown.
What about nurseries and after-school clubs?
It looks very likely that you will still be allowed to take your children to nurseries and after-school clubs even if tighter restrictions are imposed in Nottingham.
Will I be able to move my children between mine and my ex-partner's houses?
Yes, looking at Leicester and the north-west, we would be safe to assume that separated parents will still be able to move their children between both houses.
This arrangement does not count as a childcare bubble or a support bubble.
Will my children still be allowed to go to school?
Yes, seeing as we haven't seen school closures being enforced in any other local lockdowns, there is no reason to think that these will happen in Nottingham.
However, schools will still take action if staff or pupils become infected with coronavirus, which can involve closures and sending children home.
