Places rise despite slight drop in nursery numbers

The Care Inspectorate’s Early Learning and Childcare Statistics 2018 found that last year there was a 2.1 per cent increase in the number of places available in nursery services since 2017, amounting to almost 2,500 more places.

However, the number of registered childminders decreased by 5.9 per cent from 2017, and the number of children registered with a childminder also fell, from 33,660 to 32,700.

The statistics found a total of 3,646 daycare services in 2018, down by 55 from 2017.

More services reported providing funded early learning and childcare places, and there was also an increase in the number of services providing care before school hours, according to the report.

Quality of care fell slightly, with 91.9 per cent of childminders and 88 per cent of daycare services found to be Good or better, down from 91 per cent and 88 per cent respectively in 2017.  

However, 91 per cent of services providing funded early learning and childcare were evaluated as Good or better by the Care Inspectorate.

Peter Macleod, chief executive of the Care Inspectorate, said, ‘High quality early learning and childcare benefits children across Scotland. It helps them to have the best start in life and supports them in their learning journey throughout school and beyond.

‘It also provides a crucial service for families and can support parents to access employment or training. Early learning and childcare can play a key role in reducing the poverty-related attainment gap.

‘The Care Inspectorate’s job is to support early learning and childcare providers to deliver high quality care and positive outcomes for children that meets their needs and respects their rights.

‘We see examples of excellent early learning and childcare services across the local authority, voluntary and private sectors in all parts of Scotland, with many services operating at the very highest levels of quality.’

Children’s minister Maree Todd added, ‘I welcome these statistics from the Care Inspectorate that show that the quality of nurseries, childminding and out of school services remains high. We know that high quality early learning and childcare has a vital role in improving the lives of our children.

‘As we prepare for the expansion to 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare from August 2020, it is encouraging that this report shows that parents are already benefiting from more flexibility and increased capacity in services.

‘While these statistics illustrate the position at the end of 2018, we have also more recently collected data from local authorities about their progress in phasing in extra hours ahead of the new legal entitlement coming into force next year. It demonstrated that almost 20,000 children were accessing more than 600 hours of funded early learning and childcare in April, and we expect our next progress report to show even more children accessing it now.

‘The expansion of funded early learning and childcare to 1,140 hours from August 2020 will mean that our children get the best possible start in life, and will allow families the opportunity to explore more work and learning opportunities.’