Question reference: S4O-04141
- Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 11 March 2015
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Current status: Answered by Fiona McLeod on 18 March 2015
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what additional support it is giving to councils where parents cannot access free childcare entitlement due to capacity issues.
Answer
£329 million was allocated to local authorities in agreement with COSLA for the first two years following implementation of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014. We are not aware of any local authorities unable to meet the new requirements.
Under the Act, local authorities must now consult and publish plans on the delivery of early learning and childcare. They must deliver a range of models and choice, within a framework of up to 8 hours a day across the whole year.
Most consulted voluntarily before the implementation of the Act and many have already started further consultation.