Nursery group subsidising free places in Scottish settings

According to the nursery group, the number of funded places it has been allocated by Glasgow Council have been reduced for 2014-15.

In Scotland, private and voluntary early years settings are contracted by their local authority to deliver the free pre-school hours, 600 hours a year, for three- and four-year-olds. These partnership pre-school providers are allocated a number of funded places for each school year.

Three of Bertram’s nurseries in Glasgow – Kelvinside Kindergarten, Happitots Baillieston and Happitots Garrowhill – deliver the free places for threes and fours.

But Susan McGhee, director of Bertram, told Nursery World that the group’s number of places has been capped and reduced from a total of 91 in 2013-14 to 68 for 2014-15, leaving it short of places for existing eligible children, some of whom have attended the settings since they were a baby.

In August, Nursery World reported that Glasgow City Council and East Lothian Council had taken the decision to cap funded places in private and voluntary nurseries.

Rather than operate a pro-rata or ballot system to decide which children receive funding, as a number of partnership nurseries do, Bertram has decided to subsidise some places itself.

Across the three nurseries, the group subsidises 31.8 full-time places for eligible children already at the settings, as well as places for new children, rather than turn new business away. Each full place is worth just under £2,000 a year.

Ms McGhee said that while parents would be able to access their funded place at a local authority-run setting, it is not an option for many, particularly those who work, as maintained settings have shorter opening hours and are less flexible. Also, moving a child to another setting could prove disruptive.

She added, ‘The commitment by the Scottish Government to provide quality, flexible early learning and childcare accessible for all children and families is not being met on the ground.’

A parents’ campaign group in Glasgow is now calling for a guarantee that all children attending partnership nurseries can take up their funded place at the setting. A petition launched by Fair Funding For Our Kids has 1,107 signatures.

The group estimates that between 1,000 and 1,800 children are currently unable to take advantage of the free offer because the majority of places are available at council-run settings.

According to the group, most local authority nurseries are only open during term time and require that the funded hours be taken for three hours in the morning or afternoon, rather than as full days.

Emily Munro, a member of the campaign group who has been unable to take up her three-year-old’s funded place at the partnership nursery her child has been attending since she was 11 months old, said, ‘As a working parent with a full-time job, a place for my child at a nursery that has extended hours of 8am to 6pm is not a luxury but a necessity.

‘Despite being in partnership with Glasgow City Council, the nursery has not been awarded funding for every eligible child, and so we do not have a funded place. Nor can we find a suitable alternative at a council nursery.’

Councillor Stephen Curran, executive member for education and young people at Glasgow City Council, said, ‘Scottish Parliament legislation states that the local authority has a duty to provide sufficient places for eligible three- and four-year-olds. It does not specify that this is a nursery of parents’ choice. There is no reduction in the number of purchased nursery places. The number of partnership places in different areas of the city depends on supply and demand.

‘Parents need to be aware when choosing a nursery for their child that if they choose a private setting there is no guarantee it will have partnership status for the duration they need.’

A spokesperson for Children in Scotland, an umbrella body for the children’s sector, said, ‘We understand some councils are requiring parents to use council provision where available rather than a private nursery and that others are offering partnership with private sector nurseries only if they can provide the service at or below the hourly rate specified by the council.

‘Of course, many local authorities and private providers will have excellent relationships. While it is likely that this will cause difficulties for some families we acknowledge that local authorities are legally entitled to take these approaches.’