1,300 parents petition East Dunbartonshire Council to keep their promise on funded nursery care

Many parents of nursery age children in the area are set to lose out on 390 hours of funded early learning.

The legal requirement for local authorities to deliver 1,140 hours of early years learning in August 2020 has been removed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

As a result, the council told parents on Thursday it will be reducing this to 750 hours for two, three and four-year-olds.

However, the full 1,140 hours will still be available for the council’s pilot centres – Auchinairn Early Years Centre, Hillhead Early Years Centre, Twechar Early Years Centre and Lennoxtown Early Years Centre.

The online petition “Bring back 1140 hours in East Dunbartonshire” has been set up by Fiona Hayes and has garnered 1,159 signatures within a couple of days.

It states: “We wish to put on record in the strongest terms our dissatisfaction with how this matter has been handled.

“With the people of East Dunbartonshire looking ahead to how they can ‘get back to work’, the approach taken by East Dunbartonshire Council creates significant barriers to its residents being able to do so.

“This causes even more strain on families, when so many have already been financially impacted by the coronavirus outbreak.

“We call upon East Dunbartonshire Council to provide an explanation on where the funding which was supposed to be spent on upping childcare provision for this term shall be allocated? Surely savings from such a drastic U-turn could be allocated to supporting children and families?”

Parents are also angry that other councils, including North Lanarkshire Council, will be providing 1,140 hours.

East Dunbartonshire Council said it remains committed to deliver its Early Years expansion programme and 750 hours is more than current statutory 600 hours.

Joint Council Leader, Councillor Andrew Polson added: “Delivering the full 1,140 hours was dependent on the completion of our three new-build early years centres in Bearsden, Milngavie and Kirkintilloch and an extension to the centre at Killermont Primary. This has not been possible due to the lockdown.”

Councillor Vaughan Moody added: “We will be advising parents and carers of their specific allocations week beginning July 15.”