Meeting of the Parliament (Virtual) 23 July 2020
The decision about the delivery of 1,140 hours was not made out of choice. The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic across many aspects of our lives have been and will continue to be challenging. The delays to building work and recruitment to support the delivery of 1,140 hours have meant that, out of fairness, we could not expect all local authorities to be in a position to deliver a duty to provide 1,140 hours.
That is not a uniform position, however, and the “postcode lottery” to which the member refers is a result of the point at which the pandemic disrupted our delivery. Back in March, not everyone was ready to deliver 1,140 hours, because we had committed to delivering it in August.
Comfortingly, the Audit Scotland report that was published in March confirmed that we were on track to deliver in August. That is what gives me confidence that we will get back on track as soon as we possibly can. I am committed, the Government is committed and local authorities are committed to delivery. The passion of everyone in the sector to deliver that commitment is entirely undimmed but, at this moment in time, we cannot reasonably assess when delivery will be achievable. We have committed to reviewing readiness later in the year, and we will reintroduce the duty to deliver 1,140 hours as early as we possibly can.
Regarding the number of local authorities that are able to commit to providing 1,140 hours of childcare, of course that is a changing picture. As the operational guidance for childcare is reviewed, the impact on capacity will change. Thus far, two local authorities are committed to delivering in August, but I expect that to change if we are able to ease restrictions further. I urge people to look out for updates from the Government and their local authority about what the offer is likely to be.
With regard to the financial importance of the childcare sector, we have been totally committed to quality—it is the golden thread that runs through everything that we say about the expansion to 1,140 hours—but everybody understands the economic imperative to get childcare fully operational to enable people to work. It is therefore disappointing that the chancellor did not mention that issue at all when he made his grand announcements about economic recovery. Further, unlike the Scottish Government, he has not put in place any scheme to support the sector, nor has he put in place a scheme to support parents in meeting childcare costs. As I said in my statement, my colleague Fiona Hyslop and I have written to the UK Government this week to request that the chancellor put such schemes in place quickly.