Concerns have been raised in the Scottish Parliament that primary headteachers are having to take time out from running schools in order to plug staffing gaps in nurseries.

Early years and childcare minister Maree Todd has come under fire from MSPs amid fears that - even before the Scottish government attempts a huge planned expansion of nursery places - the pre-school sector is struggling.

At the Scottish Parliament’s Education and Skills Committee yesterday, Oliver Mundell, Conservative MSP for Dumfriesshire, questioned whether it was realistic to find thousands of new staff to deliver the extra places when nurseries and schools were already short-staffed.

Nurseries in Dumfries and Galloway are “struggling to recruit enough staff to meet current provision”, he said, adding: “And I’ve heard from headteachers in some local authority nurseries that they’re having to take time out of running not just the nursery but the primary school, to actually help out and fill gaps.”

Transforming nurseries

Ms Todd replied that the flagship government policy - to increase free nursery hours from 600 to 1,140 by 2020 for all 3- and 4-year-olds and some 2-year-olds - was realistic, “although I absolutely acknowledge the level of challenge involved”.

She added: “I heard somebody [at a roadshow event] at a school, and it was described as the biggest recruitment drive since the Second World War. It is huge - the scale of the ambition is incredible, but will be transformative. As I said, the prize will be worth having.”

During the meeting, Ms Todd appeared to struggle to answer a question about the number of nursery staff in Scotland.

Afterwards, Labour education and skills spokeswoman Mary Fee, who asked the question, said: “This is an utterly woeful performance from a minister charged with delivering a flagship government policy.”

‘Significant risk’

Ms Fee had said during the meeting that local authorities estimated 12,000 extra staff were needed to deliver the policy, while Scottish government figures estimated the workforce at 8,000. She then asked the minister how many extra staff had been recruited.

Ms Todd replied that between 2,000 and 3,000 had started training this year, but neither she nor accompanying officials could say where that left the total number of staff. She said that she would have to write to Ms Fee with the answer.

In February, an Audit Scotland report found that the Scottish government had underestimated the cost of almost doubling free nursery hours by £160 million per year,  putting the figure at £1 billion rather than £840 million. It also identified a “significant risk” that councils would not be able to deliver the promise on time.

The Scottish government, however, insisted it remained on track to deliver 1,140 hours by 2020 and that it was not unusual for “people to have different ideas as to the final cost” of a major project. The key detail was that the Scottish government had pledged to fully fund the policy, Ms Todd said at the time.

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