- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 23 August 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 23 September 2019
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23958 by Maree Todd on 18 July 2019, how good practice and innovation will be shared across Scotland from the nine multi-agency local authority teams working with the Children and Young People Improvement Collaborative to increase uptake of the two-year-old funded early learning and childcare offer.
Answer
The Early Learning and Childcare Practicum is a 12 month programme supporting 9 multi-agency Local Authority teams to use improvement methodology to increase awareness and uptake of the two-year-old funded offer, and to better understand the current barriers faced by families accessing the offer of funded ELC. The Scottish Government has been working with the Children and Young People Improvement Collaborative to support these 9 teams since September 2018.
The Practicum teams have used improvement methodology to identify practical changes that can help increase awareness and uptake of funded ELC amongst eligible families – for example improving the application process; upskilling staff; changing established practice across and within agencies; and providing additional support to parents/carers.
The Practicum will conclude later this month with a Celebration Event where each of the 9 teams will share their learning with colleagues from across their local authorities and Scottish Government. The Children and Young People Improvement Collaborative Improvement Advisors will then help to share change ideas that have successfully demonstrated improvements with all 32 local authorities, and offer further support to test in local areas and move to scale. We will also share learning from the Practicum at the Children and Young People Improvement Collaborative annual Learning Session in November, and through the dedicated ELC Knowledge Hub space for local authorities.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 23 August 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 23 September 2019
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Early Learning and Childcare Expansion Delivery Progress Report dated June 2019, what steps it is taking to increase the number of two-year-olds receiving more than 600 hours of funded ELC in order to meet the forecast figures.
Answer
The Scottish Government, COSLA, local authorities and sector organisations are working hard to increase awareness and uptake of the funded offer for 2 year olds, so that more children are able to benefit from high quality funded ELC at an earlier age. At a national level we are:
- working with the UK Government and UK Parliament to secure a legal gateway and data sharing agreement so that local authorities in Scotland can access accurate information about their eligible populations. This will help local authorities identify and promote the offer to families who are likely to be eligible;
- improving the information available to parents and carers to help them make informed decisions about ELC, for example through our new ELC Hub on Parent Club and information leaflets in BookBug bags for all 1 year olds;
- looking for opportunities to promote the offer through other services such as the Health Visiting Pathway and Financial Health Check, as well as making best use of new systems and capabilities, such as Best Start Grant, to join up our messaging about the services available to support families; and
- working with the Children and Young People Improvement Collaborative (CYPIC) to support 9 multi-agency Local Authority teams to use improvement methodology to address barriers to uptake of the offer, increase awareness and uptake of the 2 year old offer in their areas, and to share their learning with other local authorities.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 23 August 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 23 September 2019
To ask the Scottish Government on what date it received the Early Learning and Childcare Expansion Delivery Progress Report dated June 2019.
Answer
The Scottish Government received the Early Learning and Childcare Expansion Delivery Report from the Improvement Service on 17 June 2019. It was discussed by the Joint Delivery Board on 25 June 2019.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 23 August 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 23 September 2019
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Early Learning and Childcare Expansion Delivery Progress Report dated June 2019, what proportion of the eligible two-year-old population the 8,707 children that are forecast to take up more than 600 hours of funded ELC represents.
Answer
We estimate the eligible population to be around 14,000 children each year, based on population projections published by NRS and the eligibility criteria for the two year old offer. The Scottish Government does not have access to the full UK Government administrative data required to have a definitive figure for the number of eligible two year olds in Scotland.
The Improvement Service report published in July 2019 showed that local authorities are currently forecasting that 8,707 two year olds will access more than 600 hours of funded ELC by April 2021 – representing around 60% of the estimated eligible population. These are forecasts based on the best available information. Uptake of the funded ELC offer for eligible 2 year olds will of course depend on parental choice.
Local authorities are working in a variety of ways to increase awareness and uptake of funded ELC by eligible 2 year olds locally, working through a range of professionals and services who come into contact with potentially eligible families. My answers to S5W-24894 and S5W-24889 describe more of the work underway national and locally to help raise awareness and uptake.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 23 August 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 23 September 2019
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23957 by Maree Todd on 18 July 2019, whether it will provide an update on the number of equity and excellence leads in post, and what additional action it is taking to fill any vacant posts.
Answer
We know that high quality early learning and childcare can play an important role in reducing the poverty related attainment gap. We have dedicated funding for 435 equity and excellent leads to work in all 32 local authorities with a focus on improving outcomes for children in the most deprived areas of Scotland.
Local authorities have reported that 92% of these posts have now been filled (398.5 full time equivalent posts).
Some posts have taken longer to recruit for than anticipated. This is partly because these roles can be very specialised and many local authorities have included additional criteria to ensure the most suitable, highly qualified candidates are in place to support children experiencing disadvantage.
With 92% of these posts filled, the Scottish Government is continuing to work closely with local authorities to fill the remaining 8% of posts by monitoring progress on a regular basis.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 23 August 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 23 September 2019
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown by local authority of the figures set out in the Early Learning and Childcare Expansion Delivery Progress Report dated June 2019.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-24897 on 23 September 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 23 August 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 23 September 2019
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23962 by Maree Todd on 18 July 2019, what will be (a) included and (b) excluded in the initial results of the revised ELC census in 2021.
Answer
We are planning an individual child level ELC census in May 2021 with the data to be published later in the year. Data will be collected on child characteristics (such as ethnicity, age, disability and sex), and the pattern of provision for children enrolled in funded ELC. More information on the data to be collected is available on the . What is included or excluded from the published information will depend on data completeness and confidence in the quality of the data received given that this will be the first year that the census will have been conducted in this manner. Any issues identified will be addressed for subsequent releases.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 16 September 2019
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 19 September 2019
Question to be taken in the Chamber.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 19 September 2019
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 09 September 2019
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 12 September 2019
Question to be taken in Chamber.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 12 September 2019
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 August 2019
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Current Status:
Answer expected on 16 September 2019
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the work of the Expert Panel on Environmental Charging and Other Measures.
Answer
Answer expected on 16 September 2019
