Can you spare a few moments to read this notice below from the Scottish Private Nursery Association - asking you to sign a petition for equality in funding your child's 1,140 hours of childcare.
Dear Parents
There's a petition with the Scottish Parliament which we'd like you to consider signing.
As you may know, the Scottish Government provides funding for the 1,140 hours programme direct to Local Authorities. It is the Local Authorities who decide how much funding non-Council providers, like us, receive. Local Authorities also decide how much they will provide in funding to their own nurseries.
This puts Councils in a tough position. It's logical that a Council would make sure their own nurseries are properly funded and then pay whatever is remaining to the partner providers. And that's what many of them do - they fund their own nurseries at a higher rate than they pay all the others.
In our view councils shouldn't be a childcare provider as well as getting to choose how much funding is provided for your child.
We're therefore calling on the Scottish Government to design an online account where you, as parents and guardians, can choose what setting - whether a Council nursery, a private, voluntary, or independent nursery, or a childminder - gets paid a standard rate of funding.
So long as that setting meets the Government standards, we believe that it's you who should get the choice.
You can sign the petition here until 19 October 2022.
Thank you
The Scottish Private Nursery Association is run by nursery owners, for nursery owners. We are working with the government to support you and your needs.