Nursery ‘postcode’ lottery fury
Parents have blasted ‘discriminatory’ plans, which leave their children with fewer free childcare hours in nursery compared to other kids.
Troon families were banking on nurseries rolling out a national plan to deliver 1140 free nursery hours for kids annually from August. That is now delayed.
They claim the council is allowing Troon Primary nursery to offer the additional child care but won’t let privately run Granny Smith’s 500 metres away do the same.
Mum-of-two Fiona Moore said her family will be £160 per month worse off because the funded nursery hours aren’t happening.
Accountant Fiona whose three-year-old son attends Granny Smith’s said: “We found out Troon Primary has been allocated 400 hours more than the children who are going to Granny Smith’s. It feels like complete discrimination against my child. Every child should get the same number of hours.”
Granny Smith’s has the capacity and wants to offer the 1140 extra nursery hours from August but is not being allocated funding from South Ayrshire Council to do so.
Hugh McNish, 42, said he was relying on the extra nursery time at Granny Smith’s for his three-year-old daughter Bethany.
The Troon dad-of-two , said it doesn’t make sense now for wife Joanne to work full-time.
Human resources worker Lisa Quinn, 31, described the lack of promised time at Granny Smith’s as a “disappointing blow.”
The mum-of-one who is expecting another baby said families had no time to prepare for the withdrawal of planned childcare provision.
She said: “It has been taken away from us so late in the day.”
Councils are no longer under obligation to offer the extra time in nurseries due to Covid-19. Before the outbreak they had to deliver 1140 hours in every nursery by August.
Ayr MSP John Scott said he hopes there may be still be a possibility of the 1140 hours being introduced this year and called on the Scottish Government to review the decision.
He said: “I know from contact with many local parents this week that the decision to delay introducing the 1140 ‘funded’ hours commitment has been deeply disappointing since many were counting on it to help with their own work arrangements.
“Early action is needed by the Scottish Government to set a new date for the expanded ‘funded’ nursery hours policy and to ensure that councils have the resources needed to make it a success.”
South Scotland MSP Brian Whittle called for the 1140 nursery hours to be properly financed and said the plans should not be pushed back by a year.
A spokeswoman from a private nursery in South Ayrshire said: “The private nursery providers have the capacity to offer 1140 hours. We have got the staff for it and adapted our buildings. Parents feel it is a postcode lottery. They feel let down - it is discrimination.”
A council spokesman said: “South Ayrshire Council is set to deliver an increase in early learning and childcare hours as soon as public health advice changes. The current measures in place mean that all children get at least the statutory entitlement of 600 hours with a few children getting access to more hours. When the guidance is changed then early years centres will contact parents with updated information on the hours their child will be offered.”