MSPs have called for an investigation into whether the policy of nearly doubling free early learning and childcare hours is “at risk”.
The move is a response to concerns over the number of preschool staff switching from the private sector to local authority nurseries.
One of the Scottish government’s key policies is to increase the amount of free early learning and childcare (ELC) that preschool children are eligible for from 600 to 1,140 hours a year. Initially, that was to start from August 2020, although the Covid pandemic forced a delay until August 2021.
The Scottish Parliament’s Education, Children and Young People Committee said that, even though the policy had been delayed by a year, it was still contending with “the challenging circumstances of the pandemic”.
The committee has written to education secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville, demanding that a “mapping exercise” be carried out across the sector.
The letter comes after the National Day Nurseries Association told the committee of a “crisis” in the early learning and childcare workforce, attributed to the growth of the local authority sector and to the pandemic.
The MSPs told Ms Somerville that she should look at “the extent to which staff are moving from jobs in the [private, voluntary and independent (PVI)] sector into local authorities”. Concerns have frequently been raised about the high turnover of staff in PVI settings because of higher wages in council-run nurseries.
Fears over extending free nursery hours
The committee said that exploring such issues “would allow the Scottish government to establish whether there is a risk to the delivery of the 1,140 policy due to staff capacity in the PVI sector”.
The committee had previously heard from local authorities’ body Cosla that the 2022-23 Scottish budget included a 4 per cent reduction in specific revenue grant funding for local authorities to implement the policy.
While Cosla accepted that the “rationale for the reduction in funds was based on a national reduction in the number of eligible children”, it added that councils had “significant fixed costs which are rising faster than anticipated owing to inflationary pressures”.
It highlighted that a “reduction of a small number of children at an individual setting level will not allow for any reduction in costs relating to staffing, or costs relating to the building, such as heating and cleaning”.
A Scottish government spokesperson said: “Private, third-sector and childminding providers are a valued part of the successful delivery of our 1,140 hours early learning and childcare offer.
“Throughout the 1,140 expansion, we have sought to improve conditions across the private, third and childminding workforce delivering funded ELC. This includes our investment to enable local authorities to set sustainable rates for private, third-sector and childminding providers that reflect the costs of delivery, provide scope for reinvestment and enable private and third sector services to pay at least the real living wage to staff delivering funded ELC.
“Scotland has the highest funding rates in the UK, with rates paid to providers increasing by 48 per cent from 2017-2021 for three- to five-year-olds.”
