Financial sustainability health check of the childcare sector in Scotland

Next Steps

24. We will now work with the sector and delivery partners to progress these actions.

25. We will also continue to monitor developments across the sector, in particular as wider support schemes such as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme come to an end, to assess any changes in underlying trends and any impacts on financial sustainability. This includes considering the financial implications for all types of childcare services if any further significant public health restrictions were to be introduced at a future date.

26. There are new policy commitments which will be implemented over the course of this Parliament, in particular the development of a system of wraparound school age childcare offer and the introduction of an early learning offer for 1 year olds from low income households. In delivering these commitments we will design and fund services to ensure that they are provider neutral and there is a level playing field, learning the lessons from the 1140 expansion programme and the implementation of Funding Follows the Child.