Tayside's chief constable John Vine said, 'Research has revealed that the voucher scheme is an excellent way of making childcare more cost-effective for staff, without taking any of the choices concerning their children's welfare away from them.'
The vouchers will be available at the beginning of the new tax year from Accor Services, which already provides childcare vouchers in Scotland to employees of the Royal Bank of Scotland, HBOS (Halifax Bank of Scotland), the Scottish court services and the Ministry of Defence.
The company is also in negotiations with Edinburgh and Glasgow City Councils. John Craven, Accor's national account manager for Scotland, said, 'Childcare vouchers are really coming to the fore in the UK because of government initiatives.'
Accor has been providing childcare vouchers since 1989 and is the main supplier in Scotland.
Busy Bees is another supplier hoping to raise interest in Scotland, where its only client for childcare vouchers so far is the Church of Scotland.
Busy Bees provides childcare vouchers for many police forces in England and Wales and has already met with Strathclyde Police and Northern Constabulary, as well as Aberdeenshire Council and Highlands and Island Enterprise.
The childcare package offered by Tayside Police also entitles staff to free use of the Familylife Solutions telephone research service, which helps to find the best childcare option locally, and to make use of the Dundee Sitter Service, which provides emergency childcare facilities.
The Sitter Service is jointly funded by Dundee City Council Social Work Department, Dun-dee Childcare Partnership and the New Opportunities Fund.
It does not offer permanent childcare, but caters for families with changing and unpredictable care requirements - such as police officers, who can be called upon at very short notice - by providing a trained and supervised sitter in the family's own home. Most sitters are registered childminders. Any family wishing to use this service must register and allow a home visit.
