In May, we launched our Scottish Childcare Strategy. The Strategy is about supporting families. Families need childcare. Good quality childcare is good for children. And it helps parents to go out to work or study. So we want to ensure that all families have access to the childcare which meets their needs.

But at the moment, there are not enough childcare places. Parents are not always able to find out what is available. And the cost of childcare can put it out of the reach of many families.

Our Scottish Childcare Strategy will tackle these problems. We will help ordinary working families to afford the childcare they need. We are making available money to create new places. And we will promote good quality. Childcare should be fun for children.

This leaflet is a summary of our Green Paper, Meeting the Childcare Challenge: A Childcare Strategy for Scotland. It explains what we are doing already, and what we are going to do, to raise quality and help meet childcare needs. We want to get everyone involved - to help us to meet the childcare challenge.

Donald Dewar
Secretary of State for Scotland

Sam Galbraith
Minister for Children's Issues

1. Why do we need a Childcare Strategy for Scotland?

We believe in supporting families and children...

This Government is committed to supporting families and children. We have already demonstrated that support. For example, we are raising school standards, increasing child benefit and helping parents back to work through the New Deal.

...so it is essential to support childcare.

The Scottish Childcare Strategy is a key part of our support for families. We want to ensure that good quality, affordable childcare is available to meet the needs of all neighbourhoods.

Society is changing as more women go out to work...

The number of mothers in paid work has grown. And the number of women achieving educational qualifications has grown.

...and fewer people live in large families.

Families have become smaller in the last few decades. Divorce and family breakdown have risen. People tend to move around the country more. So many parents do not have relatives living nearby who might help look after their children.

Childcare is good for children...

Good quality childcare is not just something parents need when they go out to work or study. It is good for children. It can help them to grow up happy and confident. It can introduce them to the joys of play and a love of books. Young children who are used to playing with other children find starting school easier. Older children can benefit from taking part in creative and sporting activities with other children. And it can offer safety to children who would otherwise be latchkey kids.

...it is good for their parents and others who look after them...

Parents can benefit too. So can people who look after children for their relatives or friends. Through playgroups or parent and toddler groups, they can meet other parents and carers. They can develop their parenting skills. Some may be able to get jobs working with children.

... and it is good for the economy...

If more people have the childcare they need, they will be able to take up jobs. Our economy will grow stronger.

...but we have not been meeting the childcare needs of today's society.

Childcare provision has failed to keep pace with all these changes. The needs of families are not being met. We are all losing out ­ parents, children, employers, and society as a whole. That's why we need a Scottish Childcare Strategy.

2. Our Scottish Childcare Strategy

There are three key problems with childcare provision at the moment...

• The quality of provision can be variable

  We need to know that children are well looked after. There are childcare providers doing excellent work right across Scotland. But we need to do more to ensure that all childcare is of good quality.

• The cost of childcare is high

  One estimate of the cost of care for a child under 5 is between £50 and £180 a week. Many families struggle to afford the childcare they need

• It is not easy to find places

  In many areas there are not enough childcare places. There are just over one million children under sixteen in Scotland, of whom just over 300,000 are under five. Recent statistics estimate there are around 300 formal childcare places for every 1,000 children under five. Data for children of school age are patchy but in general the provision is even less. For example it is estimated that only one in forty primary school children have access to out of school clubs. Four out of five non-working mothers say they would work if they had the childcare of their choice.

  It can be difficult for parents to get information about what is available. Parents need good information about childcare. to help them choose what is right for their children and take up opportunities to work or study.

...which we will work to solve through our Scottish Childcare Strategy.

We need to do more. That is why we are developing a Scottish Childcare Strategy. We hope this will encourage everyone to play their part.

3. Making our Scottish Childcare Strategy work

We will promote good quality childcare...

We will make sure that childcare is of the highest quality. Childcare should meet the needs of all children. Parents need to have confidence when they leave their children.

We will help improve training for people who work with children. We will improve what is taught to young children. Through the New Deal, up to 5,000 new childcare workers will receive training in Scotland. We will improve the way early education and day care providers are regulated and inspected.

...which parents can afford...

We have increased the help available through Family Credit. Working families with two children can get more help with their childcare costs. For parents in education and training help will be through doubling the Access Funds in further and higher education to a total of £8.6 million in 1998/99. But this is only the start. From April 1999, we will increase child benefit for the eldest child by £2.50 a week. And from October next year, we will introduce a new Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC). The tax credit will top-up earnings of working families to ensure that work pays. It will mean that, in effect, tax will only begin to be paid on income over £220 per week. The WFTC will include a childcare tax credit to help families pay for childcare. Families with one child will be able to get up to £70 a week. Families with two or more children will be able to get up to £105 a week.

... and which is more accessible...

We will ensure that more childcare places are available. And we will make it easy for people to find out about them.

In Scotland we have already committed almost £5 million extra in 1998-1999, while a further £25 million over the period 1999 - 2003 will come on-stream from lottery funding through the New Opportunities Fund, for the development of out of school childcare. Further funding will be available to support out of school learning activities. The new childcare provision will need to meet the needs of different families. This includes those from ethnic or linguistic minorities or where the children have special needs. By winter 1998, every four-year old will have the guarantee of a free part-time pre-school education place.

We will be encouraging good quality information services to help families find out what is happening in their area. A telephone helpline will help parents get the information they need.

...by working in partnership...

We cannot deliver this Strategy on our own. We need childcare providers, parents, local authorities, local enterprise companies, employers, colleges and others to work together. New childcare partnerships will be set up in every area. They will include a wide range of people with an interest in childcare. We will make funds available to start preparing childcare plans.

...and encouraging employers.

Employers have an important part to play. We want them to get involved in childcare partnerships. And we will encourage employers to adopt "family-friendly" policies. This means helping their employees balance work and family life - which makes sense for everyone. We will implement European Directives on part time work, parental leave and working hours. Our policies will help parents support their children in a range of ways.

4. What happens next?

The timetable for follow up action to the Green Paper is:

Let us know what you think

If you have any comments on our plans, please write to:

Childcare Strategy Division, Scottish Office Education and Industry Department, Area 2-B(N), Victoria Quay, EDINBURGH. EH6 6QQ

Comments can also be e-mailed to: peter.willman@SO013.scottoff.gov.uk

5. How to find out more

This leaflet is a summary of our Green Paper, Meeting the Childcare Challenge: A Childcare Strategy for Scotland. The Green Paper sets out in more detail what we are proposing to do. And it asks some key questions. The Green Paper is available from The Stationery Office bookshops, or from its publications centre orderline on 0345 02 34 74, price £7.10 Or you can view it on the Internet. The address is:

If you want more information about Family Credit, you should contact your local Benefits Agency office.