Nursery World - Roll-out of Scotland's 1,140 hours could face delays, warns spending watchdog

With just six months to go until the roll-out of the 1, 140 funded hours in Scotland, a new report by Audit Scotland warns there is a risk there may not be enough facilities or staff to deliver the entitlement.

Audit Scotland says councils have just half of the staff they need for settings to deliver the 1,400 hours from August

While the report recognises that councils are making progress in recruiting the workforce needed to deliver the extended entitlement, it finds that just half of the extra staff needed have so far been recruited.

Audit Scotland is an independent public body responsible for auditing many of the country's public organisations.

According to the Scottish Government, an additional 4,310 full-time equivalent staff have been recruited for council settings, however Audit Scotland says that forecasts suggest a total of 8,244 are needed.

Some councils have highlighted difficulties in recruiting staff to managerial and senior practitioner posts. Providers also continue to report challenges with recruitment and retention of staff.

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