A SHAMEFUL BETRAYAL OF OUR CHILDREN
As the rates crisis now threatens nurseries...
LEAVE my nursery in Erskine, pass the mums and dads shepherding children in and out, and you are just a few minutes’ drive from the office of Derek Mackay MSP. Of course, Mr Mackay is not just the local MSP, but also the Scottish Government’s Finance Secretary.
It is his job to build an economy that allows businesses like mine to grow and flourish – particularly at a time when Nicola Sturgeon wants to double free childcare hours.
So why are we facing such massive increases in business rates?
Make no mistake, the hikes some nurseries are facing will not only prevent them from growing, but will threaten their very existence. Some will be forced to close if the Scottish Government does not rethink.
Others will have no choice but to pass the costs on to the hardworking mums and dads who the Scottish Government says it wants to help.
It all seems a far cry from the First Minister’s personal promise to make childcare a top priority when she was returned to office last year.
Her plan to almost double free childcare to 30 hours for vulnerable two-year-olds and all three and four-year-olds, with 600 new childcare centres and 20,000 more qualified staff, by 2020, was visionary.
Many of the mums and dads who bring their children to our Enchanted Forest nurseries, in Erskine and elsewhere, would surely have voted for her because of that promise. But for me, that early years dream is rapidly descending into an unachievable nightmare – the SNP’s blueprint for progress is falling apart at the seams.
Our nurseries, like all those in the private sector, are crucial to the success of the plan.
However, we already faced major challenges.
Taxpayer-funded local authority nurseries are able to pay staff a minimum of £10.57 per hour. By contrast, we private businesses can only afford the national minimum or living wage. If we were to pay staff more, we would have to charge parents more.
SO it’s a challenge for us to retain the staff we rigorously train as they inevitably move on to higher-paid jobs at council nurseries. Now, on top of this, we are facing huge hikes in business rates, with many bills to double from the start of April.
One of our nurseries faces an astounding rise of £3,000-amonth. Due to strict rules on staff to child ratios, we can’t cut jobs – nor would we want to.
Passing on these level of increases is not possible as most families couldn’t afford the extra payments. So, effectively, the dream of expanded childcare is close to an end.
When that happens and nurseries close, the SNP will break its promise to voters, including the mums I see every day.
The business rates increases will prove to be the final blow for many private nurseries operating on the margins.
These increases will obliterate their modest profits, plunge them into the red and force closures and redundancies.
The Scottish Government has so far been content to stand by and watch as these firms prepare to go to the wall with an indifference and inaction which is hard to fathom.
At the same time, it is condemning its own flagship childcare policy, which Nicola Sturgeon personally endorsed, to the dustbin.
In one fell swoop, it will let down hard-working parents and stand accused of neglecting and betraying a generation of children who were promised more and deserve better.
Here are some facts which will alarm most people.
My nursery in Erskine – within the Renfrewshire North and West constituency of Mr Mackay – will see its business rates go up by 108 per cent.
Another of my nurseries, in Thornliebank, Glasgow, will have its rates bill increase by £3,000-a-month.
My consultant Gary Walton, of businessratesadvice.com, who will appeal the increase, thought it was a typing error at first.
My additional burdens for three nurseries alone will be £56,000-a-year. My story is being replicated the length and breadth of the nation in every sector of the economy.
MR MACKAY says businesses should appeal. However, from previous experience, that can take a long time, during which we would be paying out significantly higher rates each month. I firmly believe in the government approach to early years, which puts the child and their families at the centre of everything we do. I want to employ high numbers of staff so we can give children the best possible start in life. However, we can only do this if we have the resources. We cannot achieve this if we are taxed to within an inch of our lives.
We pride ourselves in delivering quality education and care; but we are also a business. We are all working toward a common goal of making Scotland a better place to grow, live and work for our children and families. But I am deeply frustrated by the approach taken by the Scottish Government, councils and other agencies. They clearly do not have a plan to support businesses like ourselves.
The Scottish Government response to criticism of business rate increases seems to be that the valuations are done independently – so they are not the fault or problem of Mr Mackay or his fellow Ministers.
Well, here’s an idea. Perhaps, instead of me going to see Mr Mackay, he could come and see me. After all, I see on the Scottish Assessors website his business rates are being cut by almost a third, so perhaps he has more petrol money right now.
If nothing is done by his Government between now and April, when the changes take place, we will be under huge pressure and really struggling to continue to provide the free childcare we do, let alone doubling it.
We can – and will – appeal. And successful appeals will see the money returned. But that could take months – and what about those who lose their appeals? For many, it will be too little. For others, it will be too late.
It will certainly be too bad for many firms who will be forced to fold; for the families who will have no childcare as a result; and for the many working mums who will be forced to give up their jobs.
I really expect more in this crisis from my MSP, the Finance Secretary.
And the silence of the First Minister has been deafening.
The silence of the First Minister is deafening