Staffing ‘crisis’ for childcare

SCOTLAND is facing a national shortage of childminding workers as a national body warns that the sector has reached a “crisis” point.

The Scottish Childminding Association (SCMA) warned 34 per cent of childminders had quit since funding was increased for early education and childcare in 2016.

This has seen 1,926 childminding businesses forced to close and the loss of 11,363 places over the six years.

An Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) Audit carried out by the organisation highlights the impact the expansion of the funded hours policy has had on the workforce – and warned shortages could worsen further.

By 2026, the number of childminders to have left the industry since 2016 is expected to soar to 64%.

Chief executive of the SCMA Graeme Mcalister said the organisation issued the warning over the loss of staff two years ago.

He said: “Two years ago, SCMA also warned that we had the makings of a workforce crisis.

“That crisis is now here. Shortages of childminders are being experienced all around Scotland.

“It is clear from our new workforce projections that without intervention, the childminding workforce and loss of childminding businesses and places for families could almost double again by July 2026.”

He warned that the implementation of ELC policy has been “problematic”.

The Scottish Government offers up to 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare a year for three and fouryear-old children, and some two-yearolds in eligible families.

However, the audit revealed the number of childminders delivering this funded ELC through local authorities has decreased.

The SCMA attributed this to increasing and “unsustainable levels of bureaucracy, duplicative quality assurance and paperwork”.

While the decrease is marginal, the organisation warns progress in increasing the number of childminders delivering funded ELC is being overtaken by those ceasing to do so.

A total of 82% of childminders who responded to the survey reported a “very significant” or “significant” increase in paperwork. Almost half of the surveyed staff (48%) say they have taken on an additional five hours weekly of unpaid work due to the paperwork.

Of the childminders delivering funded ELC, 66% were taking on the additional five hours.

Mr Mcalister said: “We are supportive of ELC policy, and in particular the aims to close the attainment gap and to support families with funded childcare.

“However, the implementation of ELC policy at a national and local level has been problematic and we have previously reported the devastating effect this has had on the childminding workforce in Scotland.

He added that previous audit findings have “been met with limited response”.

The audit warned that the Scotlandwide drive to recruit 12,000 additional staff into nurseries to support the expansion has had a destabilising effect on the childminding sector.

The research, commissioned by the Scottish government, also found that six years into the ELC expansion, only four of 32 of local authorities had conducted an impact assessment on local childminding businesses.

The chief executive warned that the industry had reached a “crossroad”. “Urgent intervention is key,” he said. “We have reached a critical crossroad and time period within which to act – to allow childminding to become less and less available, and potentially disappear altogether as a form of childcare in Scotland, or to act decisively and intervene before it is too late to safeguard childminding for children and families around Scotland. The clock is ticking.”

The SCMA has piloted a supported model of childminder recruitment in rural parts of the country and is calling for this to be expanded across the country after seeing success with the scheme.

Children’s minister Clare Haughey said: “Childminders are a valued part of our Early Learning and Childcare workforce.

“We want to encourage more people into childminding and we are working with the Scottish Childminding Association and other partners to address the decline in the childminding workforce – a trend that is mirrored elsewhere in the UK.”

We have reached a critical crossroad and time period within which to act