SCMA Update on Programme for Government & What This Means for Childminding

Yesterday, (5 September 2023), Humza Yousaf MSP, First Minister for Scotland, announced the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government for the coming year and beyond. In a very positive step, childcare is a central focus of the Programme for Government given the critical role it can play in reducing poverty by enabling parents and carers to work and contribute to wider economic development. 

While the First Minister included the Scottish Government’s welcome commitment to scale-up childminder recruitment nationally, (building on SCMA’s pilot projects), equal weighting has been given to supporting the existing childminding workforce and increasing retention within our workforce through a variety of new measures. This will also build on ongoing work to reduce the level of duplicative quality assurance and paperwork experienced within the sector. 

Shortly after the Programme for Government was presented to the Scottish Parliament, SCMA met with senior officials in the Scottish Government and other representative organisations to learn more of the detail within the Programme for Government and which couldn’t all be included in the publication as it covers every area of Scottish Government activity.

Members will also be aware that SCMA has been undertaking a high level of activity to develop the evidence to support change, to represent the needs of childminders to the Scottish Government and to recommend a series of actions which are required.  As a result, Scottish Government invited SCMA to submit further detailed proposals aimed at reversing the decline in the childminding workforce by supporting current childminders and improving retention, as well as recruiting new childminders into the workforce.

Since then, the Scottish Government has also committed the Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland to developing a new single/shared inspection and quality framework which will be more proportionate, recognise the different types of childcare provision, significantly reduce the paperwork involved and benefit all childminders. SCMA is participating in the Stakeholder Group for this and the new inspection and framework are expected to be introduced for childminders from April 2024. More recently the Scottish Government has also commenced meetings involving SCMA, the Care Inspectorate, Education Scotland and local authority representative bodies to explore how workload pressures for childminders can be reduced further.

Programme for Government: main points for childminders

The Scottish Government has asked us to share with members a letter regarding the Programme for Government. This can be accessed at the bottom of this page. In summary -

• the main focus is anti-poverty, recognising how childcare can support employment and reduce poverty; also shifting the approach from universal (entitlements) to targeted support (for those who most need it);

• the Scottish Government will ensure that Private, Voluntary and Independent (PVI) providers and childminders delivering funded ELC will be paid a minimum of £12 per hour for delivering funded ELC from April 2024. It is understood that the Scottish Government will provide additional payments to local authorities to top-up local sustainable rates provided to partner providers to ensure this minimum payment. SCMA will also be involved in exploring how payments can be paid fairly and sustainably;

• a package of measures will be piloted to support childminder retention - including mentoring support and piloting funded ‘time off of the floor’ for childminders (to undertake learning, quality assurance, paperwork, study etc) to inform potential wider application to the whole childminding workforce;

• scaling up of innovative pilots for recruiting and retaining childminders (building on SCMA’s pilots) to recruit 1000 childminders around Scotland;

• commitment to increase funded ELC for two year-olds. This will remain targeted at those most in need, but extending this upwards from existing ‘eligible twos’ provision to be more inclusive of those currently missing out; and

• pilot work to inform the development of the Scottish Government’s targeted offer for school-age childcare will be expanded from four to six ‘Early Adopter Communities’ to also include Fife and Shetland (in addition to the existing areas of Clackmannanshire, Dundee, Glasgow and Inverclyde). SCMA has recently been awarded funding to help inform this work, to develop and increase understanding of childminding as an option for school-age childcare in these areas and to test delivery models and arrange some placements).

 

Graeme McAlister, Chief Executive, SCMA, said:

“In developing this Programme for Government it is very welcome that the Scottish Government has recognised the critical role that childcare plays in enabling parents to work, in reducing poverty and in supporting the wider economy – and that childminders need more support to contribute to this. 

“It is clear that the Scottish Government has listened, recognised the acute challenges experienced in childminding and made a number of substantive commitments to support the existing childminding workforce, to improve retention and to increase recruitment. 

“The commitment to increasing the minimum pay for childminders delivering funded ELC to a minimum of £12 per hour is particularly welcome, and establishes an important principle linked to the Scottish Government’s progression of the Fair Pay agenda. Clearly, we recognise that the majority of childminders are not involved in ELC delivery, that many will be disappointed that this minimum pay does not apply to the whole childminding workforce or to school-age childcare providers and that further action will be required to consider how Fair Pay can be progressed for those not delivering funded ELC.

“However, this new minimum pay commitment may encourage more childminders to become involved in ELC delivery, particularly if this is also extended to the future statutory offers for school-age childcare and one year olds - but to support this, further work will be required in ensuring that all childminders have equity of opportunity to participate in ELC delivery. It is also essential that a major reduction in paperwork is delivered through the ongoing development of the new single/shared inspection and quality framework.  

“In parallel, we also welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to scale-up nationally our innovative childminder recruitment pilots to bring another 1000 childminders into our workforce and also to a number of additional measures aimed at supporting the childminding workforce, including piloting funded time off the floor for childminders and mentoring support”.