Opinion: In my view - Start with the buildings

Too often we hear of nurseries run in ramshackle buildings or spare office blocks in industrial estates - removed from normal society, impersonal, uninspiring and unsuitable. It's hard to imagine how children could feel relaxed or happy in such places.

I believe it is time to launch an initiative to engage with all stakeholders, including the Care Commission, local authorities, parents and private sector providers, to seek ways to raise building standards. By harnessing council planning departments to take a strategic role in the location and standards of nursery properties, and by setting minimum criteria for the physical environment of our nurseries, we can deliver care fit for the 21st century.

I am not saying all nurseries must be based in stunning properties, but certain basic criteria ought to be observed. No child should endure an environment resembling an industrial site. The staff may be excellent, the interior well organised and the children well cared for, but what sort of signal does it send out if the building where they are spending such an important part of their lives is second or third rate?

We need a proper dialogue about how we can take the whole concept of nurseries a step forward. So much is rightly made of the crucial importance of education to Scotland's economic and moral wellbeing, at all levels - but we simply don't hear enough about nursery provision, where progress remains slower than it could be. We would all benefit from more decisive action now.

By Deepak Poddar, managing director of Little Einstein's nurseries across Scotland.