SCMA gives evidence at Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry

Yesterday, SCMA’s Chief Executive, Graeme McAlister, provided oral evidence to the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry during the Education and Certification Impact Hearings in Edinburgh. 

This was the second time that Graeme has contributed to the Inquiry and we wanted to share some background on how this happened and an overview of the information Graeme shared with the Inquiry Team across the two sessions.

The Inquiry Team became aware of SCMA’s activity during the pandemic to support childminders and made contact with us to learn more about this. After an initial meeting in December 2023, Graeme was requested to record an in-depth legal statement with the Inquiry Team. 

The transcript has now been published, linked to yesterday’s hearings, and can be found here, but as this is 60 pages long, here are some short, representative extracts:  

When asked how childminders felt about the Scottish Government’s support for them during the pandemic:   

“I think as a workforce, childminders still feel quite disappointed and let down by the Scottish Government during the pandemic. They think childminding was deprioritised and childminders were thrown under the bus”. 

When asked about the response to the pandemic -

“… My personal and professional opinion, based on my involvement, is that I think the Scottish Government probably did as well as anyone could have done during the pandemic. However, that does not mean they got everything right – they did not.  A number of mistakes were made and there were a number of times childminders were not ‘up there’ in considerations. Priority was given to nurseries and other funded providers, sometimes at the expense of childminders, as the Scottish Government also sought to balance responding to the pandemic with bringing back on the policy delivery of the expansion of ELC as soon as possible. 

“That is why SCMA had to regularly challenge operating restrictions, public health advice, and levels of financial support provided. For childminders, they willingly stayed open to support the national response and took children into their homes, sometimes putting their own children at risk. They do not feel this was recognised”.  

While the initial statement was captured in February, the Inquiry team requested a lot more information and the final transcript of this was only signed off in July. Similar statements were taken from many witnesses before the Inquiry Team decided who they would wish to take further oral evidence from.  

Yesterday’s session was held at the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry’s offices at Waverley Gate in Edinburgh in a specially created court-style setting. The session was chaired by Lord Brailsford, the Chair of the Inquiry and a Judge to the Supreme Court, with questions being asked of Graeme (based on his February statement) by a member of the King’s Counsel (a senior Barrister) and in front of  a number of solicitors  representing the statutory bodies responsible for the national response (Scottish Government, Care Inspectorate, COSLA and Public Health Scotland). 

The session took the form of an Impact Hearing and the focus this time was on the impact –
•on the operational delivery of childminding services during COVID-19 (such as childminders being required to adapt their business models in order to stay open and deliver critical childcare for key workers and vulnerable children; operating restrictions; and frequently-changing guidance) and the support SCMA provided to childminders during the pandemic;

•on vulnerable families and the support provided by childminders and SCMA; 

•on children (including emotional dysregulation, delays in speech and language, and missing key stages in socialisation and transitions); and 

•on childminders’ mental health and wellbeing.

Graeme was also able to provide details of the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on childminders   compared to other settings – of restrictions on blended placements, enhanced cleaning, costs and differentials in financial support.  

The Hearing was live-streamed and a recording can be viewed here (starts at 8 mins 50)

Speaking afterwards, Graeme said:

“As the only national organisation supporting childminders in Scotland, we have welcomed the opportunity to speak candidly to the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry on two occasions now about the vital role that childminders played during the pandemic and about their and our experiences in order to support learning.
 
“While the Inquiry initially started exploring the impact of the pandemic on education and children, they became very interested in the impact also on childcare and, in particular, childminding – recognising its value as both a form of childcare and family support. They also became interested in the impact on children and families of the decline in the childminding workforce - which was already in motion pre-COVID for a number of reasons, but was then accelerated by the pandemic - and in what we have been doing to address this.

“Much progress has been made to address this decline in the last couple of years and it is important for us to acknowledge that Scottish Government has listened to SCMA, recognised the decline in the childminding workforce and the adverse impact this had been having on families, and has taken positive action to demonstrate its commitment to childminding by funding the three year ‘Programme for Scotland’s Childminding Future’ (PSCF). 

“Launched in June 2024, this programme is being delivered by SCMA and aims to grow the childminding workforce through strengthening support for existing childminders to improve retention, and by recruiting new childminders in areas of Scotland where more are needed.

“As an organisation, we will continue to do all that we can to support our members and seek to grow a sustainable childminding workforce so that more families can benefit from this unique form of childcare and whole family support”. 

The Inquiry Team has invited the whole childcare sector in Scotland to share their experiences via a short online survey. If you were operating as a childminder during the pandemic, we would encourage you to ensure your voice is heard – the deadline is Friday, 29th November 2024. Find out more and access the survey. 

As always, we will keep members updated with any news and developments regarding this. Thank you for your continued support.