Childcare expansion to help families

Childcare provision will be expanded to increase access for more families across Scotland, as part of a new package of measures to tackle poverty.

The First Minister will outline the proposals as part of this year's Programme for Government, which will be focussed on reducing poverty and offering practical help and support, particularly to those families who need it most.

Further support is to be announced for frontline staff working in private, voluntary and independent (PVI) providers in the early learning and childcare sector.

The First Minister will set out details of the expansion plans in an address to Parliament today (Tuesday 5 September).  Speaking ahead of his statement he said:

“Helping families deal with cost of living pressures is one of my key priorities, and providing further funding to expand childcare provision will help deliver that.

“Scotland already has the most generous and high quality early learning and childcare offer in the UK and the measures I am setting out today will help make it even fairer and more affordable for those who need it most.                              

“Supporting families is not only fundamentally the right thing to do, it is critical to our mission – affordable and accessible childcare supports employment and the economy, and secure and sustainable employment helps lift families out of poverty.

“This will be a Programme for Government focused on what really matters to the people of Scotland – reducing poverty, delivering growth, helping to tackle climate change, and providing high quality public services.”

The First Minister met parents who have benefitted from early learning and childcare provision at Rowantree Primary School Nursery, Dundee, on Monday. 

Background

In 2022-23 the Scottish Government delivered on a commitment to start designing and building a system of school age childcare to help tackle child poverty through work in four ‘early adopter’ communities in Glasgow, Dundee, Clackmannanshire and Inverclyde – supported by £15 million of funding.