CAMPAIGNERS have called for urgent action to help parents who cross council boundaries when they choose a nursery for their children.
Currently families who live in one local authority area, but use a nursery in a neighbouring authority often miss out on their entitlement to free nursery places.
Some councils have adopted a policy of funding out-of-area placements, but most don’t and there is no national requirement for them to reach an agreement.
In March Edinburgh Council withdrew nursery payments for parents who live in East Lothian with more than 50 families affected by the decision.
Campaigning group Fair Funding for Our Kids said parents often had to send their children to a nursery in a council area other than where they lived because of work commitments.
Carolyn Lochhead, a volunteer campaigner with the group, said: “It’s not uncommon for parents to need childcare close to their work, especially because many council nurseries close before 5pm.
“We want a national, binding agreement that sets out how councils will handle these situations. Parents are confused and frustrated at this extra hurdle to organising decent childcare. It’s completely unnecessary and it needs to be sorted out.”
A spokesman for council umbrella body Cosla accepted there was an issue in some areas because of the complexity of the way funding is allocated.
He said: “This is not particularly straightforward and is often a very complex area. It is basically a matter for local determination with a local decision between councils that has to be agreed on both sides.”
Fair Funding for Our Kids is now going to raise the issue with the Scottish Government as part of a national review to improve the felxibility of what is on offer to parents.
Under SNP legislation families are entitled to 600 hours of funded childcare for three and four-year-olds, but surveys have revealed the vast majority of places offered by councils are not suitable for working families because they don’t cover the whole day.
The problem is exacerbated because councils are not passing on sufficient funds to private nurseries to ensure all parents get the free places they are entitled to.
In September, it emerged that millions of pounds given to councils to pay for free childcare has not been spent on the programme.
An official report revealed local authorities were given an extra £329m to fund the scheme, but they spent or plan to spend just £189m.
And in October First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced the Scottish Government is to consult on more flexible options for free childcare places.
Parents will be consulted on to two proposals that would give them more control over options for state-funded free childcare hours.
The first would see parents allowed to pick a nursery or childminder of their own choice, with the local authority funding it, as long as the provider meets agreed standards.
A second option would be for parents to be given free childcare hours funding through individual childcare accounts and purchase the childcare directly.
This scheme was first suggested by Children in Scotland’s Childcare Commission.
At the moment local authorities decide what free childcare places are offered to parents and parents have to pick from the places that are available.
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