Government confident it can deliver staff for childcare expansion

The Scottish Government is “absolutely confident'' it can deliver the workforce for its flagship policy to boost free early learning and childcare, MSPs have heard.

Childcare and Early Years Minister Maree Todd faced questions on how the estimated 11,000 additional early learning and childcare workers needed by 2020 would be recruited and trained.

She was setting out details of a deal between the Scottish Government and local authority umbrella body Cosla to fund the policy.

Ministers have pledged to increase paid-for nursery places from the current 600 hours to 1,140 for three and four-year-olds, and eligible two-year-olds, by August 2020, equivalent to about 30 hours a week in term time.

The agreement struck last week means £990 million will be spent on day-to-day funding for the scheme by 2021 - £150 million more than the government's previous estimate.

Labour's Iain Gray welcomed the announcement but highlighted concerns from the Auditor General that the funding would not deliver the policy “unless we can find, recruit and train the required staffing numbers''.

He said: “Given these funding announcements can the minister now tell us how many early years workers currently work in the sector and what she expects that number to be by 2021 and how that increase will be achieved through this funding?''

Ms Todd said: “In December 2016 there were 33,430 people working in Scotland's day care sector, there's another approximately 6,000 people working as childminders.

“We have in place a very robust recruitment programme.

“We've provided extra places at college, we've provided extra apprenticeship places, we've provided extra university places and we are absolutely confident that we will deliver the extra workforce required.

“We have already had a recruitment drive aiming to recruit school leavers and we are about to go into a phase of a recruitment drive aiming to attract career changers and parents returning to work.

“We fully expect to deliver the workforce required for this expansion.'