Chamber and committees

From the outset of the COVID-19 lockdown, the Scottish Government has been gathering data on a daily basis from local authorities on the number of vulnerable children and children of keyworkers attending ELC provision and education hubs. There is also daily collection of data regarding the provision of free school meals.

There is daily contact between Education Scotland and local authorities on these matters, as well as regular discussion between Government officials, SOLACE, COSLA and ADES.

Further, because many vulnerable children are being supported at home, Government and SOLACE have agreed a new data set that includes contact with these children.

This information is not held centrally.

The data that has been provided by local authority indicates that overall around 1% of the relevant school and early year’s population have been attending local authority hubs since schools were asked to close.

From the outset of the COVID-19 lockdown, Government has worked closely with partners in local authorities, health boards, the 3rd sector and with other stakeholders, to monitor and ensure support to vulnerable children who are not attending the hubs. This has taken account of the fact that most parents, supported by most practitioners, have not considered the hubs to be appropriate for many of the children who might be considered as vulnerable. Accordingly, these children are being supported with online learning and other services at home.

The Scottish Government and the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE) have established a leadership group of senior leaders from across the sector, to oversee how risk for children and families is managed and mitigated during the lockdown and subsequent recovery phases. As part of this, a new data set has been established, which will be collected on a regular basis, and reported to Ministers.

The Scottish Government has published a commentary about the impact of COVID-19 on children and families in the initial weeks of the lockdown, and on the way that services are responding. This is available at https://www.gov.scot/publications/supporting-vulnerable-children-young-people-data-intelligence-report/

On average, over the past week (from 20 April to 24 April), 6,060 children and young people (0.8%) were attending school hubs. Of this total an estimated 83% were children and young people of key workers and an estimated 17% were vulnerable children.

We did not have any projected attendance figures so this information is not available.

The reason why David MacBrayne Limited decided to challenge the outcome of the tender process for the Northern Isles Ferry Services is a matter for the company, not Ministers.

Scottish Ministers are confident that the procurement process for the Northern Isles Ferry Services was robust and fair and are pleased that the litigation has been withdrawn.

Preparatory work is still underway with our local government colleagues to assess the resource implications and agree an implementation approach. Once an approach is agreed, I will update Parliament.

I am sure Parliament will appreciate that our collective response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is a key factor in considering the operational approach to implementing further changes to early learning and childcare eligibility.

SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-25748 on 6 November 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

From August 2020 Funding Follows the Child means that parents and carers will be able to choose to access their child’s early learning and childcare (ELC) entitlement from a local offer of ELC providers who all meet the National Standard – as long as the provider has a place available and is willing to enter into contract with the local authority. This will enable parents and carers to choose the type or combination of settings that best meets the needs of their child.

As a result of the expansion, parents and carers will be able to access more hours from a greater range of providers, and will have greater access to year-round or full-day provision, giving them greater flexibility and choice.

The local offer will vary between areas and will continue to be shaped by parental consultation under local authorities’ statutory duty. The variety of types and patterns available will depend on the number of providers who are able to demonstrate that they meet the National Standard criteria, which set out a range of requirements relating to quality, staffing and business operation including Fair Work principles.

This statement was made by the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) in relation to the results of their 2019 workforce survey on local authority approaches to recruitment. As a result of this issue being raised by the NDNA, we have taken action to improve peer to peer sharing between local authorities in relation to different approaches to staffing models which seeks to minimise the impact of local authority recruitment on other providers.

We have not had any specific discussions pertaining to the local progress reports produced by local authorities with the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA). However, the NDNA is a standing member of the ELC Partnership Forum where national expansion progress is discussed as part of proceedings.

My officials also meet with representatives of the NDNA regularly and as recently as 10 March attended their Members Event in Edinburgh.