Scottish Government told private nurseries must be properly included when expanding free childcare

Government looking to expand free nursery hours to one and two year olds

Expanding the Scottish Government’s flagship funded nursery places programme could be successful if private nurseries are properly included, according to an industry body.

Sharon Fairley, chief executive of the Scottish Private Nursery Association, says expanding 1,140 hours of free nursery places to one and two-year-olds is possible, but only if it is not “totally delivered by local authorities”.

Government funding for these nursery places is administered by councils, but Ms Fairley e has accused councils of hoarding a “good majority” of this budget for their own nurseries.

Private nurseries say they are not getting a fair deal out of the government's funding programme. Image: Ian Rutherford.

Her claim comes after The Scotsman exclusively revealed struggling private nurseries were considering taking national legal action over the running of the flagship free childcare policy.

Speaking on BBC Good Morning Scotland on Tuesday, Ms Fairley said local authorities did not have the staffing or the infrastructure to deal with this expansion alone.

She said: “I think it is ambitious, but we have got to make sure the infrastructure is there. It is deliverable if private, third sector and childminders are included and it is not totally delivered by local authorities, because they don’t have the infrastructure.

“We [private nurseries] have the infrastructure and hopefully we will have the workforce if the Government works with us. Anything is deliverable, but with a sensible discussion we are not ever involved in.”

Ms Fairley said private nurseries felt they were not being given a fair proportion of the Government’s funding because councils kept a “good majority” of this funding for their own nurseries. Ms Fairlie added: “We have evidence they are retaining a good majority of the budget for themselves to benefit their own provision.

“So they are able to pay higher salaries and have better pay conditions for local authority staff and we cannot sustain or match those salaries within the private, third sector or childminders.”

She said this was leading to a number of private nurseries having to close their doors.

Ms Fairley added: “The money has to stop being distributed to councils who are our banker and our direct competitor. They govern and inspect us, so there is a conflict of interest.

“We have been meeting with Government officials and no one is listening, and that is why we are seeing nurseries closing.”