Scottish childcare in crisis after one in four crèches forced to close down

THE number of Scottish youngsters attending childcare services has fallen after a quarter of registered crèches closed in two years, new figures have revealed.

A number of holiday playschemes, out of school clubs, playgroups, and children and family centres have also shut their doors.

The snapshot figures, comparing a week last year to the same week in 2009, have sparked concerns about early years development in Scotland and the knock-on effect it will have on a generation’s attainment and well-being.

The Scottish Pre-School Play Association (SPPA) said the closures were down to financial pressures and falling populations in some areas.

Ian McLaughlan, chief executive of SPPA, said: “In recent years we have seen a general decline in the birth rate in Scotland. That’s now reversing and we’re seeing a bit of a baby boom again.

“But it may be that in some rural communities there has been a drop in the numbers of children able to attend.”

He added: “I think there are also funding issues. Some small pre-school groups have been closing because of funding issues, and some have lost partnership funding entitlement with local authorities to deliver formal pre-school education.

“I think there’s a big squeeze on local authority budgets and some providers are missing out. However, in some local authorities, there’s a real partnership approach to delivering pre-school education.

“Some local authorities are committed to that concept but some are not, some are looking at their budgets.”

About 218,300 children attended childcare or childminding services in the last full week of November 2010, compared to 221,500 in the same period of 2009, and 224,000 in 2008.

The Care Inspectorate, which has produced the report, said this was down to a loss of registered services with children and family centres falling from 142 to 136, crèches from 164 to 120, holiday playschemes from 116 to 78, out of school clubs from 808 to 745, and playgroups fall from 486 to 416, from December 2008 to December.

Despite a rise in childminders and nurseries, services overall fell from 10,250 to 10,112.

Eileen Prior, chief executive of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council, said: “There’s a growing realisation, everywhere you turn in policy circles, of the importance of early intervention and early years.

“We are more and more aware of the impact pre-school years have on attainment and children.

“So it is depressing to hear places for children are decreasing, rather than increasing, because we need quality childcare and support for families if children are to reach their full potential.”

Last month, the Scottish Government unveiled a new communities and families fund which will see £1.5 million a year going to local childcare and family support work over the next three years.

Anne Houston, chief executive of Children 1st, said: “There is overwhelming agreement that the early years are the most crucial opportunity to improve the life chances of every child.

“The announcement of this fund is evidence of the recognition of the positive changes that can be made.” A Scottish Government spokesman said: “As local population and childcare demand fluctuates, childcare services are quite rightly adapting to better meet the needs of children and families.

“Local authorities and community planning partnerships are best placed to assess, plan and configure services locally and these statistics also show increases in the number of children attending a childminder or nurseries with evidence showing that more voluntary sector provision has started up.”