Childcare in fresh crisis as nurseries say: We can’t cope

NICOLA Sturgeon’s pledge to double the amount of free childcare for young children has been cast into doubt after nurseries across Scotland warned they do not have enough staff or facilities.

The First Minister has promised to increase the number of governmentfunded hours for three, four and vulnerable two-year-olds from 600 to 1,140 by 2020.

But a newly published survey of childcare providers by the Scottish Government casts doubt on whether the plans are actually achievable.

Overall, 41 per cent of Scotland’s nurseries claimed they are ‘not very or not at all confident’ of meeting the 2020 target. Only one in six plans to expand next year, with two thirds planning to stay the same size, 7 per cent expecting to get smaller, and 1 per cent predicting they would be forced to close.

The campaign group Fair Funding For Our Kids (FFFOK) estimates a minimum of 650 new nurseries and 3,250 additional staff would be required to hit the 2020 target.

Local authorities were given an extra £329 million to fund the scheme. But earlier this week, an official report revealed councils have spent or plan to spend only £189 million of it on childcare.

Parents are also frustrated by nurseries capping the number of free hours and limiting them to half days rather than full ones.

Carolyn Lochhead, of FFFOK, said: ‘Every time we think we understand the system, it turns out there’s another barrier in the way.’

Scots Tory education spokeswoman Liz Smith said: ‘This week, we learnt of the significant underspend on childcare and now we learn almost half of providers do not believe the pledges will be met any time soon. This simply isn’t good enough.’

However, a Scottish Government spokeswoman said: ‘We are confident the substantial increase in staff numbers that will accompany this expansion in childcare is on track and achievable. The expansion to 600 hours has already been fully funded.’