Earlier today the latest annual
Early Learning and Childcare Statistics, which provide an analysis of the childcare workforce and trends in Scotland, were published by the Care Inspectorate.
Graeme McAlister, Chief Executive, SCMA has made the following statement in response to this:
These new statistics confirm what we have been monitoring and expecting – that the number of childminders and childminding places for families have continued to decline in Scotland. Taking the top level figures only – a 47% decrease in the number of registered childminders and a 46% decrease in childminding places for children and families in the last 10 years – these numbers appear very stark, but looking behind these headline figures we are starting to see change arising from work which SCMA has been leading nationally to tackle the issues adversely affecting childminder retention and recruitment, to reverse this decline and to increase childminding provision for children, families and communities around Scotland.
Small signs of progress
We first reported in our
SCMA ELC Audit 2023, that we were starting to see small signs of recovery due to our actions. Encouragingly, these findings have been repeated within the latest annual Early Learning and Childcare statistics, with these new statistics reporting that:
- the number of new registrations recorded for new childminders coming into the workforce has increased for the second successive year (to 178) against a background of continual annual decline since 2014. This increase can be directly attributed to new childminding businesses being established through our recruitment pilots in 2022 and 2023;
- the number of childminders cancelling their registrations within the last year (481) has reduced in comparison to the previous year and is at it’s lowest since 2016. However, make no mistake - both the current level of cancellations and new registrations, while showing signs of improvement, cannot be sustained at these levels and require substantive, sustained action;
- the decline in the number of registered childminders within this last year (-8.6%) is lower than in the previous year (-11.7%), as is the decline in the number of childminding places (-8.5% decline within the last year compared to -11.4% decline in the previous year).
The childminding workforce had been declining prior to - and accelerated during - the pandemic, and the
reasons are well-established. However,
the strategy which we implemented mid-pandemic to promote recovery has helped to slow this decline and we are starting to see repeat evidence of small signs of recovery which need to be driven at pace and scale. This is why the Scottish Government’s commitment to childminding in the form of the new Programme for Scotland’s Childminding Future is so vitally important.
Programme for Scotland’s Childminding Future
Launched by the Scottish Government in June 2024 and delivered by SCMA, the
Programme for Scotland’s Childminding Future is a three-year national programme on childminder retention and recruitment will within this first year alone see 23 local authorities partnering with SCMA to support childminder recruitment in their areas or innovative new pilots to support the existing childminding workforce and improve retention including by testing Funded Time Off the Floor and Paid Mentoring.
Childminding is a unique and high-quality form of childcare and family support which also enables parents to work, stay in work and seek work and can play an important role in contributing to child poverty reduction. This has been recognised and this work must continue.
Quality of Childminding
The latest annual statistics have also reported that the quality of childminding remains very high, with 92.6% of childminders assessed, by the Care Inspectorate, as ‘Good’, ‘Very Good’ or ‘Excellent’ across all quality areas, with Daycare of Children Services (local authority and private nurseries combined) achieving 88.3% across the same gradings. Childminders should take pride in the quality of practice which they continue to provide.