Nurseries warn SNP will need more money to fund expansion
PLANS for a huge expansion of free childcare are ‘at risk’ due to funding shortages, private nurseries have warned.
The Scottish Government has pledged to increase paid-for nursery places from the current 600 hours to 1,140 for three and fouryear-olds and eligible twoyear-olds by August 2020.
But an annual survey by the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) has revealed fewer than a third of private sector operators intend to offer the free hours, which will be equivalent to about 30 hours a week in term time.
The survey also found that confidence among private providers is at an ‘all-time low’, with the number likely to offer the expanded hours falling from 51 per cent last year to 30 per cent.
A deal with council umbrella body Cosla in April means £990million will be spent on day-to-day funding for the scheme by 2021 – £150million more than the Scottish Government’s previous estimate.
But the NDNA said more funding is needed now, warning that the requirement to pay staff the real living wage will ‘cripple’ nurseries unless extra cash is provided. Chief executive Purnima Tanuku said: ‘We have uncovered the true predicament nurseries in Scotland find themselves in. It has reached a crisis point.’
More than three-quarters of those surveyed said funding for three and four-year-olds did not cover their costs, with the average shortfall at £1.98 per hour, equivalent to £1,188 a year per child. Respondents expecting to make a loss rose from 12 per cent last year to 16 per cent. Some fear closure.
Just under half (46 per cent)
‘It has reached a crisis point’
said they would be unlikely or very unlikely to provide 30 hours of cover compared with 24 per cent last year.
Mrs Tanuku said: ‘Private nurseries just don’t feel confident that sufficient funding will be passed on to providers by local authorities to make it worthwhile for them to deliver the full 1,140 hours’ provision.
‘As the Scottish Government, via local authorities, is their biggest customer, it needs to guarantee it can pay a fair rate which would enable all providers to continue as sustainable businesses.
‘We need action now, with an urgent injection of cash to improve current funding rates, otherwise many nurseries will not even be open by 2020.’
Scottish Labour education spokesman Iain Gray said: ‘To see 70 per cent of independent childcare providers saying they will not participate in the childcare expansion is deeply troubling.
‘Scratch beneath the surface of the SNP Government’s spin and we are seeing huge problems with the implementation of this flagship childcare policy.’
Scottish Tory education spokesman Liz Smith said: ‘Nicola Sturgeon deliberately got the hopes up of working parents right across Scotland. But like so much involving the SNP Government, words have not turned into action. This is yet another major failing on this First Minister’s watch.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Since this survey was carried out, the Scottish Government has agreed a landmark near-£1billion funding package with Cosla. This provides for local authorities to offer fair and sustainable funding rates to private nurseries.’