SCMA is aware of growing concerns amongst childminders and other organisations regarding proposals by Falkirk Council to reduce the number of families accessing their statutory entitlement of funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) hours in private nursery settings and instead prioritise and use up spare capacity within its own nursery settings, in order to reduce budgetary pressures.
While SCMA understands that the current proposals do not include childminders, we share our members’ deep concerns about this proposed policy and we have written to Falkirk Council to request clarification and a number of assurances about this and to highlight the potential impact on local childminding businesses and the families which they support.
SCMA also believes that this proposed change in policy would be contrary to the founding ELC principles of ‘Provider Neutrality’ and ‘Funding Follows the Child’ with which local authorities are expected to oversee the local delivery of funded ELC. These were developed and agreed by the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) to support parental choice and ensure that local authorities promote all options equitably to parents for accessing their statutory entitlement of funded hours. As such the proposed approach, requiring all local families within the 2025/26 intake onwards to access their funded ELC hours in a local authority nursery setting and only use private provision for overflow once these settings are at capacity, would present a major change in policy and be directly contrary to this national agreement.
Many parents make an informed choice to use childminders and private nurseries for a number of reasons including greater flexibility beyond local authority nursery opening hours (of 9.00am - 3.00pm). Childminders also care for both pre-school and school-age children in addition to offering a different, home-based environment. By operating from 8.00/9.00am until 5.00pm/6.00pm they can enable parents to work, stay in work or seek work. While many childminders provide care throughout the day, their provision of wraparound care for children is critical for many families.
If childminders were to experience any reduction in funded hours and income, this could undermine their business sustainability and their ability to provide both pre-school and school-age childcare to local families. On this point, it is particularly concerning that the Equality & Poverty Impact Assessment notes that there would be an “
unknown impact to children and families due to lack of engagement with service users”; the “
impact on working parents is unknown, especially with lack of childcare” , with no spare capacity for wraparound care should any providers go out of business and “
women who are typically the primary caregivers would be most impacted” and with a “
reduction in parental choice” –
in short, a major proposed change in policy with potentially significant and unknown risks attached for families and other providers. Childminders will continue to be required for the delivery of both funded and non-funded hours.
In addition to this latest development being very concerning for local childminders, private providers and families, it is also deeply concerning from a national perspective. Funded ELC is a national statutory entitlement for parents of all three, four and eligible two year-olds and Scottish Government provides the funding for local authorities to enable them to deliver this in their areas. Ring-fencing of ELC funding by the Scottish Government, regarding how local authorities could use this, ended in March 2024, coinciding with a period of significant pressure on local budgets.
SCMA is commissioned by the Scottish Government to undertake an annual independent audit of local authorities’ progress in including childminders in ELC delivery. Our most recent
ELC Audit (published last December) found that one local authority in Scotland had already stopped taking on new partner providers and cross-boundary placements last year due to budgetary pressures, and that a number of local authorities were much less certain when looking forward and when considering if they may also have to do similarly in future.
While recognising the budgetary pressures being experienced by local authorities, departing from agreed partnership principles could risk undermining the delivery of funded ELC to families as it was intended.
SCMA shared our latest findings with Natalie Don-Innes MSP, Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise, Scottish Government, and was assured by her response, received in February 2025, that the Scottish Government remains committed to parents and carers accessing their children’s funded ELC at a provider of their choice, in the public, private, third or childminding sectors.
This must continue if we wish to avoid the wheels coming off funded ELC.
Graeme McAlister
Chief Executive
5 March 2025