Parents warn of devastating impact of allowing nursery funding changes to 'ripple across Scotland'

Families are warning that changes to nursery funding could rippled across Scotland - and the far-reaching consequences of that decision

Families affected by changes to nursery funding have warned of the risks of the policy “snowballing” across Scotland.

Two councils - Edinburgh and West Lothian - have altered their 1140 funded hours to stop cross-boundary payments.

Other local authorities have made similar proposals in their budgets but been voted down by opposition councillors.

Now parents are warning of the need for the Scottish government to step in and protect flexible funding.

James le Bert-Francis ended up having to leave his job after City of Edinburgh Council and West Lothian stopped using the concept of “the funding follows the child” and ended cross-boundary payments.

His son has gone to three nurseries in two years thanks to the shift in funding provision.

The family, who live in South Queensferry, used a nursery on the boundary between Edinburgh and West Lothian.

The facility shut with just three day’s notice after losing too many funded placements to remain viable.

His wife, Joanna, was not in a position to be able to limit her working hours and so Mr le Bert-Francis moved his hours to try to accommodate care of their two children.

The situation was untenable and so he was forced to leave his job, losing a “pretty sizeable” income and the family car.

He has now found a new job that he “loves” but it is in a different industry and less well paid.

Mr le Bert-Francis said: “What's been really annoying about the process, both this time and last time, is that the impact assessments are just woefully inadequate.

“West Lothian came up with lines that they couldn’t foresee any families being negatively impacted. It's just a nonsense. It's simply not true.

“It’s not just the impact on my family, other families - a business closed, lots of people lost their jobs.”

The family is now looking at a nursery in Fife, which is the nearest one that suits their needs and has space but can be up to an hour’s journey in rush hour.

Mr le Bert-Francis added: “The offerings that we get in Scotland are already far lower than what's been given to parents in England.

“Councils feel they can do this because it’s their money but it’s a significant hit for parents and damaging for children.

“My worry now is that other councils don’t understand the impact on families and this could ripple across Scotland.”

The Scotsman revealed earlier this month that the Scottish Early Years Association (SEYA) has sent a lawyer’s letter to local authorities and the Scottish government over “damaging” policy.

SEYA claims private nurseries are, in some cases, losing as much as £150,000 to £300,000 a year due to these restrictions.

Fiona’s daughter turned three in January and she received confirmation on January 26 that funding was in place for a nursery placement to start in mid-April.

However, on March 3 she received a letter explaining West Lothian Council will no longer offer cross-boundary funding.

“I thought, we’ve missed the cut off to go anywhere else - what do you want us to do?” she said.

The mother put in an appeal but the appeal was rejected.

The toddler attends Little Flyers Nursery. While the family lives in South Lanarkshire, Fiona works in Livingston and the nursery is ten minutes’ drive from her job.

She said: “The idea was that the funding follows the child.

“I can never remember seeing anything about how you can only use it within your district. So I don’t understand.

“But if West Lothian is going to get away with it like Edinburgh did then what if there’s a snowball effect and this spreads across Scotland?”

Fiona said her family was reliant on the funding starting because of the high costs of living.

She and her husband are having to find an additional £200 to £300 a month.

Fiona said: “It is so stressful because at the moment, we have just been living one wage to the next.

“The wage comes in, and then within a week, it's gone again. I feel like we're just surviving. We're not living as such.”

Fiona’s daughter has been in Little Flyers since

“We don’t want to uplift her from that nursery because she’s been there since she was 10 months old, so it’s like a second home.

“I know that she's safe. She's in good hands. So the thought of then having to uproot her and try and go somewhere else is added stress that we don't need.”

Wendy’s family lives in South Lanarkshire but is close to the border with West Lothian.

She works as a nurse in a Glasgow hospital while her husband works in Broxburn so they chose Little Flyer’s private nursery as it had longer opening hours than the council nurseries.

However, the council has said they can only use their funded hours in a council setting - but none open early enough for her or her husband to drop off and get to work.

With some difficulty, Wendy managed to negotiate her hours with her boss but the situation is not a long term fix.

No nearby council nurseries have placements or suitable hours so “we’re really, really struggling,” Wendy said.

“Now we've had to put in a late application for funded placement at Carstairs for a private nursery in the hope that we might get that but we won’t hear until June so there is another added layer of uncertainty,” she said.

Her son is now going to have to move from Little Flyers, where he is settled, to a new West Lothian Council nursery.

But she and her husband have had to change their working hours to accommodate it.

It will be a wrench, she said, because “Little Flyers has been with us through the good, the bad and the ugly”.

“I lost my father very suddenly this year and they were so supportive.

“We have paid for private nursery for two years - around £1000 a month for three days - but we thought as soon as he turns three it will get easier.

A West Lothian Council spokesman said: “It is important to recognise that the continuing financial crisis facing councils is of a magnitude which has never been experienced before.

“Councils across Scotland are projecting substantial and sustained overspends in the delivery of services, as the costs of service delivery continue to outpace funding increases.

“With the ongoing financial challenges faced by the council, this recent decision was based on the need to prioritise West Lothian Council resources for West Lothian’s children and families.”