IS the Government's free childcare policy working?
On the face of it, the offer of 600 hours of free childcare for children in the early years is being delivered. Children are attending nurseries and parents are not having to pay - directly.
But increasingly, voices are being raised in objection. Today it is private nursery providers, who have surveyed their members and say the government is simply not paying enough for the policy. As a result, places for younger children are being subsidised, they say, through raised prices for older children in the same family, or higher fees for other families. Funding for 600 hours of free nursery education falls short by £1,100 for every three and four year old in Scotland, they say. More than three quarters of providers say places are underfunded.
Some will react that a claim from private providers that they need more money should be taken with a pinch of salt. However this does not seem to be a case of the private nurseries profiteering and the concern is not limited to the private sector.
Last week a parent group claimed that some Scottish councils are failing to provide sufficient places in their own nurseries or fund enough places in the private sector to meet the statutory duty to provide free places. At present councils determine how many hours will be provided in state nurseries, then fund places in the private establishments to meet any unmet need.
But where places are provided in state nurseries the hours are often unsuitable for working families. Meanwhile many parents find that the private nursery their children attend is not one of those registered to provide free places - or that they are not funded for enough free places.
Glasgow group Fair Funding for our Kids estimates the policy is underfunded by up to £2 million.
This is a cornerstone policy for the Scottish Government. Free nursery education for all three and four year olds and selected two year olds in disadvantaged circumstances is a strategy designed to tackle inequality and give every child the best start in life. It underpins early intervention policies which have the potential to reduce social problems such as unemployment, crime, addiction and ill-health in later life, improving lives and guarding the public purse.
The policy is widely supported and we wish to see it succeed. But the tension with all preventative policy such as this is that common to all 'spend now to save later' strategies. It can be hard to invest the amount needed when the rewards come later and there are other pressing priorities.
In addition this policy was not presented simply as a solution for early intervention. It was sold as an offer to all parents of free early years nursery care to help hard-working families. But the delivery is plainly problematic.
It is vital ministers ensure this policy is properly funded, to meet the pledge to parents and deliver their wider policy goals. The government's insistence that the policy is working properly is increasingly unconvincing and it is time for a full review of the way it is funded.
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