PLANS to expand free nursery care for Scottish families should be shelved until the original policy is delivered in full, campaigners have said.

Parents’ group Fair Funding for Our Kids also called for a statutory requirement on councils to fund places for all three to five-year-olds attending any nursery meeting quality standards.

The call came in a submission to a Scottish Government consultation on plans to increase the number of free childcare hours from 600 to 1,140 hours per year by 2020.

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Ministers claim the move will help to close the attainment gap between advantaged and disadvantaged children, but campaigners said many parents are being denied their full 600 hours.

The problem occurs because councils deliver the policy by using part of their overall block grant to provide enough free places in state nurseries – or by funding partnership providers in the private sector if they cannot meet demand themselves.

In practice councils have used the funding to invest in their own nurseries irrespective of whether the places are suitable for working families who need all-day care.

The Fair Funding for Our Kids campaign has already completed a survey which shows thousands of children are unable to secure funded places at the private partnership nurseries they attend.

Its submission states: “We represent parents who have struggled to access their existing entitlement, because of an inflexible and illogical system.

“We were founded when many of us found local authorities would only offer us half-day places at council nurseries, and would not allow us to pay for our child to remain at that nursery for the rest of the day. This is an impossible situation for many working parents.“Working parents need to be able to keep a child in the same facility all day which is clearly in the best interests of the child. The hours need to reflect commuting time to and from a place of work and non-standard hours. Half day provision or even school hour provision is no use.”

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The submission highlights examples of children moving multiple times between nurseries “effectively chasing their funding”. It concludes: “It is our view that 600 hours should be implemented successfully before any attempt is made to double the hours.”

The Scottish Government recently announced in the Draft Budget that £60 million will be made available in the coming financial year to pay for the additional workforce and infrastructure required for the expansion.

Funding beyond 2018 has not yet been confirmed with the Government yet to calculate how much the change will cost, although it has committed to fully funding it.

The previous move from 475 to 600 hours has cost the Government £329m over the three years up to 2016/17.

A Government spokeswoman said work had already begun on planning for the expansion, but it needed to consult before taking “final decisions” on implementation.

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She said: “We recognise the importance of increasing flexibility to support the needs of families. That is why we have provided funding to allow local authorities to run 14 trials across the country to test out innovative approaches and new models, with the first trials starting this month.” “However, we also know that some places offered to parents are not where and when they need them and increasing choice must be continued and accelerated.”