In the Scottish Executive's long-awaited response to the early years workforce review (News, 17 August), education minister Peter Peacock said an additional 5m a year would be invested in increasing the funding for partner providers for commissioned pre-school education places.
In a letter to local authority chief executives last week, the Executive said that it had become 'increasingly apparent' that the minimum level of funding does not meet the costs for partner providers of delivering a 'quality pre-school education'.
'Ministers recognise the need for greater investment in staff in the private and voluntary sectors, both to enable greater training for staff and to cover the increasing costs of recruiting, rewarding and retaining a more professional workforce,' the letter said.
Under new guidelines, the minimum amount a local authority can pay for session 2006-2007 is 1,250 per child. This represents a 20.5 per cent increase on the 2005-2006 figure of 1,037 per child.
The funding covers 412.5 hours of pre-school education for all three- and four-year-olds who want it during the school year.
For the two remaining school terms for the 2006-2007 year, an additional Pounds 3.33m will be provided. The letter also gives a breakdown of the additional funding allocated to each local authority.
Patricia Bradley, owner of the Bishopsbriggs Childcare Centre in East Dunbartonshire, who represented private daycare providers on the Executive workforce planning group review, said she welcomed the recognition that the 'pre-school funding differential is an inequitable situation'.
She said, 'The Executive has listened to us, and hopefully local authorities will now stop unnecessarily investing in increasing their own administrative departments and wasting funds on access of bureaucracy but directing money away from parents and partner providers. This practice has directly prevented us, in many areas, from meeting the objectives of the Childcare Strategy in offering affordable and accessible childcare.'
But Ms Bradley added, 'The 5m investment is welcomed but it is not enough. Also the mechanism of how the local authorities disperse the grant is vital. Will it go directly to the provider to improve the retention of experienced and qualified staff or will it have to go back to the parents who are paying top-up fees to subsidise their child's care?'
A Scottish Executive spokes- person confirmed that the extra funding is 'specifically intended to enable private and voluntary partner providers to invest more in their workforce, whether through additional training or increased salaries'.
But Ian McLaughlan, chief executive of the Scottish Pre-school Play Association, said he was concerned that there will be a 'huge strain on the sector, particularly in their ability to increase their financial capacity to improve the pay and conditions of workers and reward them for their increasing responsibility and skills'.
Councillor Charlie Gray, a spokesperson for the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, said, 'Good quality, flexible childcare is key to Scotland's economic future, to tackle social inclusion and to support people who want to enter or return to the workplace. The minister has challenged local authorities to delivery that flexibility and we are ready to meet that challenge.'
The National Review of Early Years and Childcare Workforce is out for consultation until 22 December and is available at www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/07/10140823/0.
