PKC confident on childcare

Perth and Kinross Council (PKC) says it is on track to deliver funded extended hours of nursery provision in August 2020.

All Scottish councils have been asked by the Scottish Government to increase funded early learning and childcare by August 2020.

The government has pledged that early learning and childcare hours will increase for every three and four-year-old and eligible two-year-olds from 600 hours to 1140 hours.

PKC has recently advertised a number of early childhood practioner jobs but says it is confident it will have the workforce in place for next summer thanks to a recruitment drive, council staff retraining and apprenticeships.

A spokesperson said: “Since the submission of the council’s draft 1140 hours expansion plan in September 2017, we have continued to focus on developing a quality early years workforce with the right skills, flexibility and expertise to deliver future requirements of early learning and childcare, contributing to improved outcomes for children and families.

“A number of early actions already taken include building capacity within the early years workforce in readiness for August 2020 - we have undertaken a rolling programme of modern apprentice recruitment and internal retraining initiatives to gain a career within early years, as well as the development of a career grade structure, training and learning, and a leadership programme to support existing staff to develop. This has also assisted in our early phasing of 1140 hours, with some areas already having access to 1140 hours funded provision.

“The council is confident of remaining on track with its workforce plan and being able to support the roll-out of 1140 hours funded ELC provision in the Perth and Kinross area from August 2020.”