Q: Will the expansion of funded ELC be going ahead in August 2020?
A: The Scottish Government has confirmed that it has temporarily suspended the statutory duty on local authorities which would have required the 1140 hours of funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) to be available for parents by August 2020.
This has been in recognition of the fact that local authorities face legal commitments in implementing ELC which could not be delivered at this time when the country is affected by the coronavirus outbreak and national and local government efforts are required to respond to this crisis.
For clarity, this is understood just to be a temporary suspension of the legal timescale and a revised timescale will be agreed once the coronavirus situation has passed.
The Scottish Government has stated that it is their expectation that existing contracts and those planned to run from August will still do so. Early feedback from a number of local authorities has also suggested that they are trying to proceed as much as possible with their plans for ELC
For the latest updates, visit the
Parent Club website
Q: Will a child who received a 1140 funded hours placement last year get it again this year?
A: It’s likely that local authorities will be able to offer some expanded places when ELC settings reopen fully, but it’s too early to say where these places will be or how they will be allocated.
Local authorities will be sharing this information as soon as possible.
Q. What can I do if my local authority doesn’t contract with childminders?
A. All parents and carers are entitled to flexible Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) that meets the needs of their children and family circumstances.
If a childminding service could better meet your needs but isn’t available as an option in your local area, please raise this issue with your local council, councillors and MSP. Ask them why childminding isn’t an option for your child’s funded ELC and how they plan to meet the needs of families like yours who require local, flexible ELC.
We have a handy template letter designed to help you write to your local councillor or MSP. Download the template letter to request childminding be included in your funded ELC entitlement.
Q. What does the term 'blended' Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) mean?
A. A blended model of ELC means that a child would spend part of the day with a childminder and part of the day with another childcare provider, e.g. a nursery, with a clear focus on what is best for the child.
Q. Who is eligible to deliver funded ELC for three and four-year olds and eligible two year-olds?
A. To be eligible to deliver funded ELC, childminders must:
- meet the National Standard quality criteria
- be working in partnership with their local council
- have a space available within the setting
Your local council is responsible for commissioning funded ELC places. To find out if your area is contracting with childminders to deliver funded ELC, please contact your local council.
Further information can also be found at the
Parent Club website
Q. Do I need to have a qualification to register as a partner provider to deliver funded ELC?
A. All funded ELC providers must meet the National Standard, which is a set of mandatory quality criteria from the Scottish Government. In relation to training and qualifications, the National Standard states that funded ELC providers must:
- Achieved or be working towards the benchmark qualification (SCQF Level 7 qualification with 68 credits) to be completed within five years. This could be an HNC Childhood Practice or SVQ Social Services (Children and Young People). Plus the Complete Childminding Learning Pathway is a SQA Work Based Award which can be used to achieve recognition for prior learning and then used as an access path for those working towards the benchmark.
- Allocate 12 hours per year to Continuous Professional Learning (CPL)
In addition, the National Standard also states that all funded ELC providers must:
- Meet the recommended adult-to-child ratios, which depend on age groups
- Care Inspectorate quality evaluations (sometimes referred to as grades) of ‘good’ or higher across all themes
- New childminders (registered within the last year) need to have completed the appropriate induction programme, e.g. SCMA’s Complete Childminding Induction Support Programme.
Q. Will I get inspected by both the Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland?
A. Currently inspections will remain the same, whether you are a childminder delivering funded ELC or not, and you will be inspected by the Care Inspectorate, and they are responsible for visiting your home and evaluating your service. The Care Inspectorate is currently developing a new ELC Quality Framework to support this.
In addition, Education Scotland and the Care Inspectorate will be developing a shared inspection framework in the future, once the expansion of funded ELC has been rolled out and established.
Q. Do I need to adapt my service to become a partner provider?
A. No. If you are registered with the Care Inspectorate, meet the National Standard criteria, your service is suitable to become a ELC partner provider with your local council.
Q. Who should I raise the issue with locally to ask for support if my local authority is not using childminders?
A. Initially you should contact your local council to raise the issue. They have the responsibility for leading this work and commissioning funded ELC places.
SCMA can help provide you with information and guidance, so please contact our Helpline on 01786 449063 (Monday - Friday 10am - 4pm) or email
information@childminding.org.
If you have already contacted your local council and have not received a satisfactory response, the next step is to contact your local MSP or councillor to ask them to pose the questions on your behalf.
Use our
template letter to write to your MSP or councillor
Q. I have a two-year-old child, but how do I know if I am eligible?
A. Your child could be eligible for funded ELC hours if your family receives any of the following benefits:
•
Income Support
•
Job Seekers Allowance (income based)
•
Any income related element of Employment and Support Allowance
•
Incapacity or Severe Disablement Allowance
•
State Pension Credit
•
Child Tax Credit (CTC), but not Working Tax Credit and your income is less that £16,105
•
Both maximum Child Tax Credit and maximum Working Tax Credit and your income is under £6,420
•
Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
•
Universal Credit
Or if your child (in terms of legal status):
•
Is ‘Looked After’
•
Is under a ‘Kinship Care Order’
•
Has a ‘Parent Appointed Guardian’
For full information on the eligibility criteria, please visit the
Scottish Government website.
Q. Can childminders deliver funded hours as a result of childminding re-opening during Phase 1 of the relaxation of the COVID-19 restrictions?
Local authorities have been asked to prioritise the provision of critical childcare for key workers’ children and vulnerable children during COVID-19, and funded entitlement places are generally not available more widely at the moment.
Childminders and fully outdoor settings who are in partnership with their local authority to provide funded ELC places to eligible children will still be receiving funding for this, and should contact their local authority to discuss local arrangements for Phase 1 if they choose to reopen.
Q: In light of the impact of COVID-19, how much funded ELC will parents now be entitled to?
All parents and carers are entitled to flexible Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) that meets the needs of their children and family circumstances. Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, local authorities had been working towards 1140 funded hours being available to all three and four year-olds and eligible two year-olds by August 2020. It is still the intention that this commitment from the Scottish Government will be implemented when possible, but given the current situation the statutory obligation to deliver 1140 hours by August has now been removed.
However, children are currently still entitled to up to 600 hours of funded ELC and in some areas, may be able to access up to 1140 hours if capacity and funding allows. Local authorities will be contacting parents and carers directly to let them know what is happening in their area.
Please also keep checking
www.parentclub.scot/elc as this page is updated regularly with the latest information.
Q: A parent/carer wants to use my childminding service for their funded ELC, but the local authority has not presented this as an option for them. What can we do?
Parents and carers have the right to choose the type of childcare that best suits their needs based on a provider neutral model. This means that one provider type should not be promoted over another.
If childminding is not given as an option by your local authority, we would suggest the parent/carer raises this with the local council and MSP. To assist with this, SCMA has developed a
template letter and a list of MSPs can be found
here.