THE roll-out of free nursery places to parents across Scotland is being hampered by plans for a one year budget, councils have warned.
The Scottish Government has decided not to publish a three-year spending review this year with a draft budget covering 2017/18 expected next month.
Council umbrella body Cosla said the move would make future planning for the additional nursery places very difficult.
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Glasgow City Council said it was “impossible” to expand the policy overnight without proper financial planning.
The warnings come after the Scottish Government committed to expanding the current funded nursery entitlement for all three and four-year-olds from 600 hours to 1140 hours a year by 2020.
A spokesman for Cosla added: “We are committed to working with the government, but make no mistake it is certainly not going to be easy.
“We fully recognise there are real challenges in delivering this by 2020, but we think that by working together we give ourselves the best chance of overcoming these challenges.
“A one year settlement most certainly does not help. It is very difficult for councils to take long term decisions, or make long term plans on short term financing.”
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A report by Glasgow City Council said work was already underway to establish the expansion required in the form of new nurseries and extensions.
But it added: “As yet there are no milestones developed by the government which would allow us to move towards the target of 1140 hours by 2020.
“It is impossible to move to 1140 hours overnight. There needs to be a gradual, planned move supported by robust financial modelling.”
Frank McAveety, the council leader, added: “We have heard a one year financial envelope will be offered. This is not good enough.
“How can we build new nurseries and recruit staff with no certainty of funding in the long term?”
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Meanwhile, Cosla refuted accusations that it underspent its nursery budget by £140 million - arguing the figure was a maximum of £86m.
Last month, a Scottish Government report suggested that between 2014/15 and 2016/17 councils received £329m of additional cash to fund the policy, but only spent an extra £189m.
Childcare and Early Years Minister Mark McDonald said the figures showed the Scottish Government had fully funded its flagship childcare policy despite concerns parents were missing out on places.
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Cosla later came under fire from the Scottish Parliament’s education committee for failing to provide alternative figures.
However, in her response to the committee Stephanie Primrose, Cosla’s education spokeswoman, said the amount spent on the policy was £54m more than Scottish Government estimates.
She said: “I wish to note my disappointment that the letter contains inaccurate information about our discussions.
“Local government has been extremely successful in delivering the commitment for early learning and we must not lose sight of this.”
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