One in five Scottish settings unable to offer free places

The NDNA says its research suggests access to funded places varies widely with as many as one in five nurseries in Scotland not offering free places because private and voluntary settings are excluded from partnership funding by their local authority.

The Scottish government is currently consulting on the Children and Young People Bill, which includes a proposal to extend free pre-school provision from 475 hours a year to a minimum of 600 hours from September 2014. However, in its response to the consultation, the NDNA highlights cases where nurseries are unable to offer funded places for some or all children in their settings.

In one instance, the local authority places a limit on the number of funded places it allocates each year, which means that not all three-year-olds are able to access the funding.

Another private nursery that had been receiving partnership funding for three years was unsuccessful when it had to re-tender for places. The nursery claims it lost partnership funding because of the expansion of a local maintained nursery..

Rural settings are also missing out on funding, which means parents are having to travel long distances to access places.

The NDNA said 'strong partnership working' between the PVI sector and local authorities was essential because 60,000 children - around half of all children taking up places - are in private and voluntary settings.

Claire Schofield, director of membership, policy and communications, said, 'Delivering real parental choice will be vital for families to feel the true benefit of the Bill's planned expansion in funded hours and places. We believe parents should be able to access their funded pre-school entitlement at the setting which best meets their child's needs. At the moment, parents' choices are limited because significant numbers of private and voluntary nurseries are not part of pre-school partnership agreements, despite offering high-quality early learning and childcare.'