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The Scottish Government does not hold information on how many providers have withdrawn from offering funded early learning and childcare (ELC), or their reasons for doing so.

Information on the number of private, and third sector childcare services delivering funded ELC in each local authority in September each year is captured through the ELC census. This information is published as part of the Summary Statistics for Schools and is available in Table 1 of the Additional early learning and childcare statistics spreadsheet. It is important to note that there may currently be additional services delivering funded ELC that were not doing so at the time of the Census. Table 1 also includes information on the share of ELC registrations that were in private and third sector services (Partnership Centres) in each year.

Table: Number of Partnership Centres (private and third sector services) providing funded ELC

The information requested is not held centrally. The Scottish Government does not collect or hold data about the condition of early learning and childcare (ELC) settings. Owners and managers are responsible for building management and for ensuring the safety of their premises. Statutory requirements for the fitness of premises to be used for the provision of ELC are set out in Section 10 of The Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (Requirements for Care Services) Regulations 2011.

The Scottish Government monitors trends across the whole childcare sector, drawing on data published by the Care Inspectorate. In recent years the Scottish Government has published financial sustainability health checks and the Sustainable Rates Review, which have considered issues relating to the financial sustainability of the sector.

Local authorities are responsible for assessing and monitoring compliance with the National Standard in all funded providers, as part of their contract management arrangements and in their role as guarantors of quality. This includes monitoring the financial viability of these services.

Concerns regarding rising staffing costs have been raised by childcare sector representative organisations, in particular providers’ ability to meet the additional costs resulting from the UK Government’s changes to employer National Insurance Contributions. These changes are estimated to add £5 million per year to funded providers’ costs for the delivery of funded ELC (with higher additional costs expected for the whole of the childcare sector).

To strengthen the evidence base on the costs for private, third sector and childminding providers to deliver funded ELC, and to deliver a key action from the Sustainable Rates Review, a national funded ELC cost survey is currently underway. The findings will inform future rates-setting and Scottish Government and COSLA’s future financial planning.

Youth work falls within the scope of The Requirements for Community Learning and Development (Scotland) Regulations 2013. This regulation, in effect, requires local authorities to identify need and plan provision of Community Learning and Development in their areas.

As the regulatory requirements for Community Learning and Development are placed with education authorities, the Scottish Government does not collate information on youth centres.

The Scottish Government monitors trends across the whole childcare sector, drawing on data published by the Care Inspectorate. In recent years the Scottish Government has published and the , which specifically considered the contribution of local authority sustainable rates to funded providers’ financial sustainability.

It is important to note that funded ELC is often delivered in a mixed economy model. The payments that providers receive from local authorities to deliver funded ELC therefore only form part of their total income. For example, the l Sustainability Health Check reported that public funding accounted for around 46% of overall income for private childcare services who delivered funded ELC.

The joint Scottish Government and COSLA identified a need to improve rates-setting processes to better support provider sustainability. As part of the evidence gathering phase of the review local authorities did however report that “they had seen very little evidence of funded services in the private, third or childminding sectors reporting to them that they had been under financial duress or of services closing due to financial sustainability pressures”.

The Scottish Government and COSLA are continuing to progress the reforms from the Sustainable Rates Review. This includes improving the data available to inform funded ELC rates-setting by contracting the Diffley Partnership to undertake a new funded ELC cost survey. The survey findings will inform future sustainable rates-setting and the Scottish Government and COSLA’s future financial planning.

Further information about support available to ELC providers, including the Nursery Rates Relief Scheme, which provides 100% relief on Non-Domestic Rates to eligible day nurseries in Scotland and is estimated to be worth around £11 million a year, is available on the Scottish Government website.

I refer the member to the answer provided in S6W-38036 on 13 June 2025. The reporting information provided by Local Authorities is collated and held centrally and provided on request.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

As noted in S6W-38035 on 11 June 2025, Local Authorities report annually every April on their play park renewals carried out as a result of the Scottish Government’s £60m play park renewal funding. The reports from Local Authorities detail the number of play parks in their estate, the number of play parks identified for renewal, the number of play parks they have renewed in that financial year and the number of play parks they have renewed to date since the funding started. Since September 2021, when funding for the renewal programme commenced, Local Authorities have reported that over 1,100 play parks have been renewed. Local Authorities are invited to share details of their play park renewals and the details of the engagement with the local community but are not required to list details of each renewal. The reporting format was developed and agreed in collaboration with COSLA in 2021.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

I refer the member to the answer provided in S6W-38036 on 13 June 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

A scoping exercise undertaken by COSLA in 2022, identified that there were 969 parks in need of immediate refurbishment and that 2,542 were in need of refurbishment within 1-5 years. The £60 million capital investment would support the renewal of all play parks in need of immediate renewal and around 1,000 of the play parks identified needing renewal over the funding commitment period.

Since funding began in 2021, the Scottish Government has chaired quarterly network meetings of Local Authority play park leads. The network allows Local Authorities to provide updates on how funding is being used and to share best practice and common issues.

Figures for 2024-25 are still being finalised, but reports so far show the following number of renewals per year since funding began:

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-38037 on xxxxxxx which provides detail on the COSLA scoping study undertaken in 2022. Local authorities have a general responsibility to maintain play parks that serve their communities and this investment provides a boost in funding to accelerate local plans and improve play experiences for all children in Scotland. The reporting by Local Authorities agreed with COSLA does not include data on the condition of play parks before or after renewals. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.