Early Learning and Childcare

Funded Early Learning and Childcare is expanding...
Is your childminding business future-proof?

Take a look around your own childminding service. If your three and four year old minded children were offered a free place at nursery for six hours a day, five days a week – how would this affect your childminding business? Could your parents afford to say ‘no’ to a free nursery place?

The current 600 hours of funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) will increase to 1140 hours by 2020. This means that in four years time, all three and four year olds and more than a quarter of two year olds will receive six hours of funded ELC each day and this will most likely be provided in a nursery setting*.

Childminders already deliver quality ELC and can provide additional funded places when the hours increase.  However, this entirely relies on more local authorities choosing to work and contract with more childminding services.

SCMA continues to speak to local authorities and urge them to use childminding services. As a childminder, you are already an existing sustainable ELC service that should not to be overlooked – but we need your help. Remember you are already delivering flexible quality ELC – funded or not.

We want to emphasise to local authorities that:

• 32,500 children in Scotland attend a childminding service**. 
• The quality of ELC provided by childminders exceeds other daycare services, including nurseries**.
• 80% of childminders in Scotland achieved a grade four or above.
• Childminders are open for business all year and willing to provide flexible, quality and funded ELC.

“Childminders will be central to our ambitions for a massive expansion of Early Learning and Childcare in the years to come.”
Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s First Minister

Nationally SCMA is a strong voice for childminding in Scotland, but locally your individual voices count for more. That’s why we need to hear your voice.

With the help of our 4,500 members, SCMA is campaigning for more childminding services to play their role in the delivery of quality funded ELC.

We want more childminders to engage in the funded ELC debate, and help promote the benefits of using childminders and the positive effect you have on the wellbeing of children.


We’re waiting to hear from you… We need your help!
We are formally writing to all SCMA members, asking you to sign our mandate to help us lobby for more childminders to be represented within the funded ELC workforce.

You’ll receive our letter in the next week or so, and all you need to do is tick the box, sign your name and send it back to us using the pre-paid envelope.


Why does this matter to me?
Your childminding service may be full at the moment, but what will happen in 2020 when funded ELC increases.  How could this affect your childminding business? 

If childminders were given an opportunity to be partner providers to provide funded ELC with the local authority, parents would benefit from more flexibility and children would benefit from the quality ELC provided by childminders.

SCMA is passionately committed to lobbying for greater representation of childminders within the funded ELC workforce, but we need your help. The more voices, the greater the noise!


EARLY LEARNING AND CHILDCARE: a guide for childminders

To view the Early Learning and Childcare a guide for childminders click the pdf document below.  

*Hours based on 38 weeks per year
**Early learning and childcare statistics 2014, Care Inspectorate, published October 2015