Question reference: S5W-23965
- Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
- Date lodged: 20 June 2019
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Current status: Answered by Maree Todd on 18 July 2019
Question
To ask the Scottish Government on what date it expects uptake of funded early learning and childcare for eligible two-year-olds to exceed 70%, which is the figure in England.
Answer
The Scottish Government and local authorities are focussed on our shared commitment to increasing uptake of funded early learning and childcare (ELC) among eligible 2 year olds, whilst also nearly doubling the offer from August 2020, from 600 hours to 1140 hours.
Our multi-year funding agreement with COSLA secures the resources for local authorities to increase uptake and nearly double the offer. Our ongoing work with the UK Government to legislate for a data-sharing gateway is critical to local authorities' ability to promote the offer to potentially eligible families and ensure all eligible 2 year olds have the opportunity to benefit from extra funded ELC.
Uptake levels in England are higher due to a number of factors, including a larger cohort of eligible children, and the fact that English authorities have benefitted from a legal gateway for data sharing since 2011. The latter was cited by the Department for Education as a key reason for the significant increase in uptake of their 2 year old offer between 2015 and 2017.