Childcare plan at risk ‘due to building costs’

INVESTMENT: Initiative to make more early-learning hours available to parents could suffer amid rising prices

A Scottish Government pledge to offer more early learning and childcare hours has been put at risk by the construction industry, it has been claimed.

Councils across the country are working to deliver the expansion from 600 hours for all eligible two, three and four-year-olds to 1,140 from the start of the 2020-21 academic year.

Fife Council officials have now revealed its capital investment programme to deliver additional capacity across the region could be subject to delays beyond the August 2020 deadline because builders have hiked their prices.

Giving an update on Fife’s current position to area committees this week, Raymond Johnston, property services manager, confirmed delays may reduce available capacity in certain areas and would mean contingency plans would have to be put in place.

That could have an impact on the “choice and flexibility” of placements available to parents, who may not be able to access their preferred option for their child as a result.

He said: “What we’re finding with the construction industry is that costs are significantly higher than when the programme was envisaged.

“There is massive pressure to deliver and that has majorly escalated prices.”

There are concerns all Scottish local authorities face the same challenges.

Fife is embarking on a major capital investment programme to increase capacity across the region, which will see extensions or refurbishments to existing facilities and, in some cases, entirely new buildings.

Funding to deliver the programme has been allocated by the government based on financial templates submitted by all local authorities in March 2018, but Fife set aside £13.5 million in 2018-19, £30.1m this year, £40.1m in 2020-21 and more than £36.8m in 2021-22 to facilitate the project.

The plan is to deliver four models across the region – term-time provision of six hours a day across the academic year, full-year provision offering sessions of four hours and 40 minutes per day for 49 weeks of the year, 46-week provision offering 10-hour day sessions, and provision delivered in partnership with either private nurseries, playgroups or childminders.

The council is also working to increase the number of qualified staff to help deliver the extra provision, with Fife College increasing the number of placements available on the HNC Childhood Practice course from 100 in 2016-17 to 164 this year.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “With less than a year to go, many of our partners in local government are making good progress with the additional staffing and infrastructure required. We will continue to support them to deliver this expansion.”

“There is massive pressure to deliver and that has majorly escalated prices. RAYMOND JOHNSTON, PROPERTY SERVICES MANAGER