Question reference: S6W-11293
- Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 4 October 2022
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Current status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 31 October 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support the private nursery sector to (a) deliver 1140 hours and (b) pay staff a rate comparable to those working in local authority early years settings.
Answer
Private, third sector and childminding providers are a valued part of the successful delivery of our transformational expansion of funded early learning and childcare.
The Scottish Government recognises that the payment of sustainable rates by local authorities to services in the private, third and childminding sectors is vital to supporting financial sustainability and to enabling the delivery of high quality ELC. Our funding agreement with CoSLA enables local authorities to pay sustainable rates to ELC providers. We have worked with local government and providers to strengthen rate-setting in 2022-23, and we recently committed to a thorough review of the overall process ahead of 2023-24.
The Scottish Government has made more than £35 million of dedicated support available to day care of children services since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. We have also committed to continuing the Nursery Rates Relief Scheme beyond the current end date of 30 June 2023.
With regard to pay, we have seen real progress since the ELC expansion began, with our 2021 Health Check indicating that 88% of private providers intended to pay the Real Living Wage to all their staff from August 2021, compared to a position in 2016 when around 80% practitioners were paid less than the Real Living Wage at the time. We want the ELC sector to be a Fair Work sector and we are working with partners to encourage further improvements in terms and conditions, including through the development of a new Childcare Workforce Strategy.