Dumfries and Galloway council is one of the first in Scotland to be delivering 1140 hours to local children. At the Education and Learning committee today, Councillors were provided with an update on the 1140 hours programme within the region.
In 2017, the Scottish Government announced their policy to increase the number of free hours provided to each child for early learning and childcare. The increase would provide eligible two year olds and all three and four year olds with an increase from 600 to 1140hrs.
The report to Members confirmed that Dumfries and Galloway council is now fully delivering on this commitment. There are currently 2252 children accessing Early Learning and Childcare in Dumfries and Galloway in 45 local authority nurseries, 39 private and voluntary providers and 43 childminders. Over 90% of children are accessing more than the statutory 600 hours with over half of these children accessing the full 1140 hours.
As well as the benefits for children that the additional hours will provide, the expansion programme has also resulted in the recruitment of 139 additional staff in the final stage to support the expansion of hours. This is in addition to the posts that were created and recruited to during the previous phases. These posts included support assistants, nursery nurses and nursery managers.
Members of the committee were also be told that as well as the increase in hours, some providers have also completed capital works to their buildings, have improved outdoor spaces as well as other improvements to their facilities.
Furthermore, to make the process easier for parents, a new, online application form was been developed to improve the process, meaning that information is now shared with the Health Visiting service so that parents are supported to take up the offer of a place.
Chair of the Education and Learning committee, Jeff Leaver, said “I am proud that our council is one of the first in Scotland to deliver on the 1140 hours commitment. What we have been able to achieve since the Blueprint was announced by the Government has already delivered real benefits to local people through the creation of jobs as well as the additional benefits to families by allowing them to access opportunities that they may not have been able to previously.
“Across the region, we are now delivery high quality, flexible early learning and childcare that is accessible and affordable for all our families.”
Ros Surtees, Vice Chair said: “When the expansion of Early Learning and Childcare was announced nationally, it was not only to improve children’s outcomes and help close the poverty-related attainment gap but also to support parents into work, study or training.
“Our council has a valued partnership with our council nurseries, private and voluntary providers and childminding services, who work with us to deliver quality early learning and childcare to families within our region.”
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