Concerns over shortage of spaces at private nurseries

Private nurseries left reeling from the Covid-19 pandemic have issued a plea for parents to have patience as they try to adapt to a post lockdown world.

Parents and guardians across Scotland are struggling to find spots for their youngsters as many establishments reopen fully for the first time and adjust to the “new normal”.

The National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA), which represents more than 55 per cent of private nurseries in Scotland, asked people to fully appreciate the current circumstances.

The call follows criticism from former MP Angus Robertson – who aims to stand for the SNP for the Edinburgh Central at Holyrood – after he and his wife had struggled to get

a nursery place for their daughter.

The couple had several false promises of virtual tours, possible places and even a call back for updates from multiple nurseries when battling to secure a place for their daughter, Saoirse. At one stage, the couple had 13-month-old Saoirse’s name down for eight separate nurseries.

He said the couple had experienced “unfortunately serious problems” trying to get from a waiting list to a confirmed place.

He wrote: “Administrators at nurseries seem to be overwhelmed. Promises of visits, virtual tours, phone calls and even potential open places have failed to materialise.

“It is a real concern to me that too many nurseries are clearly not managing to cope and are not adequately communicating with parents.

“If they are like this before your child is attending their nursery, will communication continue to be this appalling? Why would you trust a nursery to look after your child if they cannot even return a phone call?”

However, Mr Robertson’s comments were countered by Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of NDNA Scotland.

She said: “While we sympathise with Mr Robertson about the difficulties of securing a place for his child, nurseries are working as hard as they can to get into a position when they can begin taking on new children.

“Some nurseries remained open throughout lockdown offering critical childcare for a small number of children resulting in a loss to their business.

“A raft of new guidance has rightly been produced to keep children and staff safe which limited the capacity of nurseries. Most nurseries have limited places until this week because the requirement to keep to bubbles of up to eight children was in place until 10 August. Many nurseries could not make this work with increased staff and cleaning costs and so only reopened once this requirement was relaxed, in line with schools.

“Nurseries waiting lists because, while they are keen to get back on to an even keel and welcome new children into their settings, they need to steady their ships first.”