Funding plea from private nurseries as they warn of closures
PRIVATE nursery providers are calling on the Scottish Government to provide financial support they say is vital in preventing closures across the sector.
Early years and childcare settings are due to reopen next Wednesday to all children – currently only the children of key workers are being cared for
– but with adaptations made to protect against the spread of Covid-19.
These changes will place an additional financial burden on nurseries, with extra staff needed, additional cleaning measures necessary and appropriate personal protection equipment required.
However, there is no specific financial package in place to support private nurseries to re-open.
Katie Robertson, co-owner of the Nurture Nursery in Bathgate, West Lothian, has launched a petition to have the Scottish Government take the financial concerns of private settings seriously.
She says the business, which closed in March at the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis in line with Government guidance, will, like many others, struggle to survive the financial impact.
The Nurture Nursery attempted to remain open for key worker families but the financial strain of this made the situation unviable.
The warning comes after the private sector also raised concerns about a “postcode lottery” of provision in the lead-up to a Government pledge to provide families with 1,140 hours of fully funded childcare for children aged three to five, and some two-year-olds.
The 1,140 hours was due to be introduced from next month but is now paused due to the crisis – meaning some local authorities are offering 1,140 funded hours and others 600 hours.
Ms Robertson said: “At a time when the Scottish Government was supposed to be bringing in plans for 1,140 hours of funded early learning and child care it appears to have forgotten about the many excellent private nurseries across the country, ourselves included, who provide this much-needed and reliedupon service.
“The sector offers flexible childcare options for thousands of families, often providing care to children from three months of age to school entry and beyond, with longer opening hours than most local authority settings.
“Local authorities do not have the capacity to meet the needs of the 1,140 hours without their private partner nurseries, nor do they allow families with children under three years to return to work.
“If we are to grow the Scottish economy following this pandemic private nurseries must be entitled to ongoing financial support.”
To comply with Scottish Government instructions for the re-opening of nurseries, Ms Roberston estimates her additional costs to be around an additional 25 per cent for staffing and 500% for cleaning per month.
The Government has a small business grant scheme for businesses with a rateable value of up to £18,000 and a business fund for those with a rateable value of between £18,000 and £51,000 but the Nurture Nursery, like other private settings, does not meet the criteria for either.
Instead, Ms Robertson attempted to apply for the Pivotal Enterprise
Resilience Fund, on the basis that the setting cares for the children of more than 200 working families.
However, this application was declined.
Although the Nurture Nursery is a relatively new setting, its Care Inspectorate inspection report from July last year is glowing, awarding the establishment three “very good” grades and one “good”.
Ms Robertson said: “We are a young business with an excellent staff and we are passionate about providing the best experiences for the children in our care.
“I would be devastated if our nursery did not survive this crisis.”
A Government spokesman said early learning and children “has a vital role to play” in the country’s economic recovery but added that private nurseries are not being “treated unfairly”.
The spokesman said: “Our total package for businesses during this unprecedented economic crisis now exceeds £2.3 billion and ministers are listening to concerns from businesses as we continue to explore how best to help.
“It is simply not true that private nurseries are being treated unfairly
– the Scottish Government and councils have guaranteed payments for the statutory ELC entitlement will
Local authorities do not have the capacity to meet the needs of the 1,140 hours without private partner nurseries
continue for the duration of closures, worth around £220 million in the year ahead.
“Day nurseries in Scotland are also eligible for 100% non-domestic rates relief, while hundreds of childcare providers are eligible for grant support through the Small Business Grant Fund.
“We recognise that financial sustainability is fundamental to the ability of the sector to re-open, and we are exploring what further measures may be required to support this.”
Ms Robertson, who has written to Children And Young People’s Minister Maree Todd to request her attention on the issue, said the response was “disappointing”.
She added: “We are being overlooked and under-valued. This business model is not sustainable and will force closures of private nurseries.
“Given all the Government has done to try to put children at the heart of the road map out of lockdown, this comes as a huge setback for our youngest and most vulnerable in society.
“The Scottish Government has made a legal commitment to deliver 1,140 hours and it will need private nurseries to enable it to deliver this. It cannot afford to let private nurseries fail if they want to deliver on this.”