Question reference: S6W-14321
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 25 January 2023
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Current status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 7 February 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to (a) reduce any in-work poverty among the Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) workforce and (b) ensure that the funding model enables (i) private and (ii) third sector ELC providers in partner settings to pay the Living Wage to all staff, not just those delivering the funded entitlement.
Answer
Throughout the 1140 hours expansion the Scottish Government has sought to improve conditions across the private, third and childminding workforce delivering funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC). This includes our investment to support local authorities to set sustainable rates at a level that enables payment of the real Living Wage to those workers delivering funded ELC. Payment of the real Living Wage is a key measure in tackling in work poverty, and Scotland is the only part of the UK to apply this to the ELC sector.
Overview of Local Authority Funding and Support for Early Learning and Childcare Providers: 2022-23 , highlights that average rates paid to providers in the private and third sector to deliver funded ELC to 3-5 year olds have increased by 57% between 2017 and 2022, from £3.68 per hour in 2017-18 to £5.77 per hour in 2022-23.
The investment for the payment of sustainable rates has supported real progress in pay. For example, in 2016, before the ELC expansion to 1140 hours, the Financial Review of Early Learning and Childcare in Scotland estimated that approximately 80% of practitioners delivering funded ELC in private and third sector providers were paid less than the real Living Wage.
The Financial Sustainability Health Check , published in August 2021, reported that 88% of private and third sector providers delivering funded ELC intended to pay the real Living Wage to all of their staff from August 2021.
However, public funding and Scottish Government policy can only effect a certain amount of change in pay. The childcare market is a mixed economy - the August 2021 Financial Sustainability Health Check reported that funding for the delivery of funded ELC accounted for, on average, around 33%-45% of overall income for private childcare services – and employers in the private and third sectors are responsible for making their own decisions about pay and conditions.
We are working with partners and sector representatives, including through our Real Living Wage and Fair Work Implementation Group, to understand any barriers to paying the real Living Wage and to ensuring all childcare staff perform their essential work under terms and conditions which meet Fair Work criteria.