Nursery World - Scottish nurseries losing £40,000 a year, NDNA survey finds

Nurseries in Scotland face even higher gaps in funding childcare places than other parts of the UK, the National Day Nurseries Association has found.

According to the annual survey, the average nursery offering 35 funded places for three- and four-year-olds has to absorb a shortfall of £39,480 every year.

All parties in Scotland have pledged to increase the number of free hours for parents, including the SNP, which plans to increase funded hours from 600 to 1,140 a year by 2020.

However, according to the survey only half of the nurseries that responded are ‘likely’ to increase the number of funded places they offer, and one in five are ‘unlikely’ or ‘very unlikely’ to do so.

This survey also found that demand for places in PVI settings is high - a quarter of nurseries in Scotland have waiting lists for funded places, with an average of nine children on the list.

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