The creche at Holyrood House, which has been custom-built as part of the Pounds 431m project on the edge of Holyrood Park in Edinburgh's old town, will include play areas, a sleep area and other facilities as well as office space for staff. It will be for the children of visitors rather than members or staff, unlike others set up in European parliaments. Members of Parliament and staff will be able to use it in an emergency.
Rita Hopper, chief executive of Kidcare, which runs a range of nursery and out-of-school childcare, said, 'We are delighted to have won the contract to deliver the creche at the Scottish Parliament. We believe it will be the first of its type in Europe because it will be for the visiting public.
'At Kidcare we are interested in participating in new ventures, and the creche is all about increasing the public's accessibility to the Parliament.'
The Scottish Parliament said the award of the contract for the creche, which will be able to take up to ten children aged nought to five from 8am to 6pm on weekdays, followed a tendering process that was 'rigorous, fair and equitable'. A spokeswoman added, 'Kidcare has demonstrated that it can meet the requirements regarding staff retention, service quality and consistency.
'Under the requirements of the contract, all its staff will hold a suitable qualification or will be working towards a qualification.'
She said that, as an independent contractor, Kidcare would not be affected by the current local authority dispute with nursery nurses, but that the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body would review salary levels of creche staff as part of next year's budget review.
She added that SPCB members would 'take into account any settlements that may be reached with regard to local authority nursery staff, as well as any further action on a proposed national review'.
