EXCERPTS
A new national childcare service should be set up in order meet ambitious Scottish Government plans to double the amount of free care pre-school youngsters receive, a think tank has said.
Current provision of childcare in council, private and voluntary sector nurseries is "fragmented, haphazard and unequal", the Common Weal said.
With the Scottish Government having outlined plans to increase free childcare hours from 15 to 30 a week for all three and four-year-olds, as well as vulnerable two-year-olds, over the course of the next parliament, the campaigning organisation said a "bold programme of reform" is needed.
A Common Weal report estimated 45,000 new childcare places would be required, along with 1,125 new childcare centres and 10,970 additional workers.
The research said: "The move from 15 to 30 hours of free childcare is ambitious but it won't be a success without a bold programme of reform to match it.
"We don't believe a fragmented sector with massive differentiation in cost, availability and quality throughout Scotland is good enough for our children.
"The boldness of our plan is in its simplicity: A national childcare service with one publicly provided for place per centre; standardised opening and closing times in all centres across the country allowing parents to access all-day care; and uniform pay scales and conditions for staff based on a clear principle of employing qualified childhood practitioners.
"In a phrase, we aim to replace a fundamentally unequal system with a fundamentally equal one."
The National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) said "rather than recreating the childcare infrastructure" with a national childcare service, the increase in childcare provision should come from "the existing infrastructure of the private and third-sector nurseries".
Common Weal argued the childcare sector "is not currently prepared for such a significant increase in the statutory right of 145,000 young children to 30 hours per week of high-quality childcare by 2020".
A national childcare service would allow for all 30 hours a week of care to be "provided through public provision and a common set of standards for quality, availability, affordability, flexibility and staffing".
The new system could be set up over the period 2016 to 2020, Common Weal suggested, adding: "The intention would be to make childcare institutionally akin to school education, which is run by local government but with statutory national standards and framework in place for overall governance of the sector."
NDNA chief executive Purnima Tanuku said: "While we would welcome the much-needed investment in childcare suggested by Common Weal in its report An Equal Start, we don't believe this should be spent in creating a national childcare service.
"Traditionally, parents have chosen their preferred form of childcare, from private nurseries to childminders and local authority-run centres, based on their needs.
"Private and third-sector nurseries tend to be more flexible, with increasing numbers offering sessions on Saturdays to support parental demand.
"Almost half of private and third-sector nurseries also work in partnerships with local schools to provide wraparound care and support children's drop-off and pick-up arrangements.
"There is further capacity within private and third-sector nurseries in Scotland, which currently have a 76% occupancy.
"These places could be unlocked if local authority funding was sufficient to cover the delivery costs."
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "We are under way with our planning to deliver our commitment to expanding the funded entitlement to 1,140 flexible hours a year by 2020 and are already working with local government to plan for a significant infrastructure expansion to meet the increased demand and to ensure the extra money being provided is used to create the new places.
"We welcome Common Weal's thoughtful contribution to the debate on how we can build a high quality, flexible and affordable early learning and childcare system which meets the needs of children and their families.
"The minister for children will be meeting with representatives of Common Weal soon to discuss its key findings."
-reprinted from Herald Scotland