After third birthday
Children in South Lanarkshire will now be entitled to funded childcare places from the week after their third birthday – following a last-minute climbdown by the SNP administration.
A report to the council’s education resources committee last Tuesday originally proposed to make places available from the month after a child’s third birthday.
However, an amendment tabled by the Labour group’s education spokesperson Councillor Lynsey Hamilton was unanimously approved.
South Lanarkshire’s head of education Stewart Nicolson said:“Over 2000 children and their families have benefited from additional funded hours. We are seeing young people flourish.
“It is proposed that children affected would be able to access funding from the month after their third birthday, rather than the term after.”
Councillor Hamilton said:“The phrase‘month after’should be changed to ‘first day of the week after’ to be more in the spirit of what was decided at the budget.”
Independent group leader Councillor Margaret Cooper agreed, adding: “This policy was brought forward by the independent group and was supported by our Labour and Conservative colleagues.
“I feel this is not in the spirit of what was discussed.
“This was a full council motion that was supported by everyone but the administration.”
In response to Councillor Hamilton’s amendment, Tony McDaid, executive director of education resources, explained: “Some local authorities offer funded childcare places from the month after a child’s third birthday, some offer from the week after, very few offer from the day after.
“The important thing for South Lanarkshire was making sure that we had the staff in place.
“We have hired 60 people from South Lanarkshire College.
“This has given us a further degree of confidence that we would be able to offer [funded places] from the Monday after.”
Council leader John Ross had said that the SNP administration had worked with officers to implement the will of the council expressed during the budget debate earlier this year.
Councillor Ross added:“I was originally quite happy with the report.
“If it is possible for us to do it from the following week – as has been indicated by officers – then I would be happy with that.”
A further report to councillors confirmed the local authority is also on track to meet the Scottish Government’s commitment to deliver 1140 hours of free childcare from this August.
The report states that 29 full-time equivalent positions have been created which will cater for all three-year-olds as well as qualifying two-year-olds.