Working parents let down by nurseries

to 6pm, North Lanarkshire Council considers a full day to be 8am to 5pm.

Only 42 children attended for what the council constitutes to be a full day beginning at 8am.

And only three children attended for a so-called full day ending at 5.15pm or later.

Carluke mum Moira Gibb had to change her working hours and enlist the support of her dad in order for her to hold down a job.

“I’ve had to change my working hours to do 30 hours over five days, so I can collect my little girl at 4pm,” explained Moira.

“And even that wouldn’t work if my dad didn’t do a 40-mile round trip every day to take her to nursery”.

The Scottish Government says its early learning and childcare policy should “support parents to work, train or study, especially those who need help with finding sustainable employment”.

But Fair Funding for Our Kids volunteer Carolyn Lochhead says the nursery hours policy, which varies among council areas, is not fit for purpose.

“Our research shows that the system is just not set up for working parents – the very people the Scottish Government say they want to help,” said Carolyn.

“If you don’t have grandparents nearby who can help with drop-off and pick-up, then it’s almost impossible to make use of a council nursery place”.

Parents of children aged three or four are entitled to 600 hours of free childcare per year.

Following the publication of its research, Fair Funding for our Kids is calling for an end to councils capping the number of places in partnership nurseries they will fund.

The pressure group also wants a national agreement on funding children who live in one area but need to attend nursery in another.

It is also campaigning for ring-fenced childcare funding and a minimum hourly rate to be paid to providers by local authorities.

Findings of a further Fair Funding for our Kids report based on a survey of over 400 parents show nine out of 10 parents who want to change their working situation say the main barrier is lack of appropriate childcare.

And more than two-fifths of parents are dissatisfied with their childcare arrangements.

North Lanarkshire Council says it is committed to delivering high quality, flexible and affordable childcare and recognises the importance of integrated early learning and childcare as a major factor in supporting healthy development in the early years of a child’s life.

A spokesman said: “We strive to ensure that early learning and childcare is flexible and seamless for both the child and the need of families.

“With this in mind we have a range of services which parents can access to meet their work or training commitments.

“We are in partnership with 31 independent and private nursery providers who can offer greater flexibility and choice, particularly around parents’ work patterns.

“In addition to our partner nurseries we also have 16 Family Learning Centres, managed by the local authority, offering extended provision, beyond the school day.

“This varies across family learning centres and is dependent on the number of parents requiring the service – typically a family learning centre will offer availability from 8am to 5pm.

“Our admissions policy gives priority to working parents who wish to buy additional wraparound care to meet their childcare requirements, charging a very competitive hourly rate over and above the statutory provision.

“This is utilised by a large number of parents.

“Within nursery classes we can’t offer an 8am a 6pm model, as they are bound by school hours, but an extensive range of choice is available from our partner nurseries. As we move towards 1140 hours in 2020, these models will change.”