Fair Funding For Our Kids
For many children and working parents in Glasgow the system is not delivering a model of
childcare that matches the needs of the modern working family, with the result that many
children are missing out on their early years entitlement.
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Glasgow City Council has a proud history of leading the way in childcare provision in Scotland. It was
the first local authority to increase the number of free hours for pre-school children and provide nursery
places for under-3s.
But right now, hundreds of families across Glasgow are unable to access their legal entitlement to free
childcare because most council nurseries do not offer suitable hours for working parents.
For these working parents, private partnership nurseries can provide the solution. However, not all
eligible children are able to access their entitlement in partnership nurseries because there are a limited
number of funded places available.
The Scottish Government’s flagship policy entitles all eligible 3 to 5 year-olds 600 hours of free
childcare. However, the Scottish government's promises do not appear to match up with the reality of
what councils say they are able to provide.
The Fair Funding For Our Kids campaign group estimates that 1,000 – 1,800 children in Glasgow are
currently unable to access their entitlement – why?
Most council nurseries do not offer the flexible hours that working families need
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Glasgow City Council nurseries have a total capacity for 5,839 3 to 5 year-olds and provide 11,794 free
places within this capacity. The majority of these funded places are made up from 3-hour morning or
afternoon sessions rather than full days and are only available during term time.
In order to access these places, working parents must make alternative arrangements for drop off, pick
up and care for the rest of the working day and during holidays. This patchwork of childcare is
impossible for many families to manage.
There are only 1,948 council nursery places across the whole of Glasgow that offer the option of
extended hours to cover a full working day.
In these circumstances a private nursery is a necessity, not a parental choice.
There are not enough funded places at private partnership nurseries
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Glasgow City Council is responsible for the delivery of 600 hours of free early years provision for every
3 to 5 year-old in Glasgow. Funded places are only purchased by the Council in partnership nurseries
if there are not enough sessions available in council nurseries.
This has led to a shortage of funded places in the partnership nurseries which are providing parents
with the service they need to enable them to work.
Parents are being asked to move their child to a different nursery to chase their entitlement, only to
find that there are no other funded places available to them
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Continuity of care and established emotional bonds are vital for the wellbeing of young children, but
parents are being asked to take their children out of a settled environment in order to access their
funding entitlement.
As it is the Council's intention to fund places annually, a child may be expected to move nursery three
times by the age of 5 in order to maintain access to funding.
However, because of the limited number of funded places available, most partnership nurseries do not
have enough places to cover the children already in attendance. This means that a child whose
nursery has had its funded places reduced or withdrawn is unlikely to be able to secure one at an
alternative partnership nursery.
FFFOK position paper 27/9/14
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Glasgow City Council does not take into account affordability when allocating funded places, so parents
may find that the only nursery able to offer them a funded place is too expensive to consider.
This lack of stability in funding for partnership places creates real difficulties for children, parents and
partnership nurseries.
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There are no reciprocal funding arrangements between local authorities in Scotland
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Many parents travel into Glasgow from other local authorities to work and choose to place their children
in partnership nurseries in the city. This causes financial difficulties for Glasgow City Council because
the Scottish Government funds provision for children resident within Glasgow only.
For children who live outside Glasgow but whose parents work in the city there is some suggestion that
this places them lower down the priority list for a funded place.
These children are entitled to a nursery place regardless of what part of Scotland they live in.
The Scottish Government has suggested that local authorities 'maintain a dialogue' where there is an
imbalance but there are no reciprocal funding arrangements in place.
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Even the council nurseries do not always have enough places – especially for three-year olds
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There are parts of the city (eg East Pollokshields) where parents of three-year-olds are told their
children will not get a council nursery place until the pre-school year because of nursery closures or
high demand.
In these areas parents must look to partnership nurseries. But partnership nurseries are expensive, tie
families into a 52-week contract (when funding is only available for 39 weeks of the year), and often
there are no funded places available.
The Council has previously stated an aim that nursery places are available within 'buggy pushing
distance' from a child's home. It is not helpful or environmentally responsible to suggest that there are
enough funded places in the city when these are not accessible by families without a car.
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The Council's placement and partnership allocation systems are hard to understand and to
navigate
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While Glasgow has recently made improvements to the way it presents information on early years
provision online, it is still difficult for parents to establish where and when places are available.
The difficulty parents have had finding suitable nursery places within the city causes stress and
frustration; it lowers parents' confidence in the Council's education system and, for some, can mean the
difference between returning to work or staying at home.
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WHO WE ARE:
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FFFOK is a group bringing together everyone concerned that 3 to 5 year-olds are not able to access their entitlement to a
free nursery place for 600 hours a year.
We include working parents, stay at home parents, and nursery providers. Committee members live or work in Glasgow.
Since it was established in summer 2014 over 1,000 people have signed up to the campaign.
We are focused on improving the situation in Glasgow, where the highest number of families seem to be affected. We
recognise there are ongoing issues in some other local authorities.
WHAT WE WANT TO SEE HAPPEN:
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Glasgow City Council to lead the way once again on childcare in Scotland and provide funding to all 3 to 5 year
olds in partnership nurseries, until places accessible to children with working parents are available elsewhere.
The Scottish Government to ensure it is adequately funding and monitoring the delivery of all its childcare
promises.
The Scottish Government to support Glasgow City Council in establishing effective reciprocal arrangements
with neighbouring councils to ensure Glasgow is reimbursed for providing nursery places for children who live
outside the city.
FFFOK position paper 27/9/14
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