Angus childminders will be drafted in beside stretched nurseries and playgroups to hit Scottish Government care targets.
By 2020 the government wants to deliver 1,140 hours of early learning and childcare to children aged three and four, and eligible two-year-olds. 600 are provided in Angus.
The local authority approved a trial on Tuesday that will recruit up to 15 childminders to help bridge the 540-hour gap in Forfar, with the option to roll out the contracts across the county if successful.
The pilot was approved at a meeting of the children and learning committee in the town, which heard Forfar was chosen because of the “pressure” for pre-school places, and perceived deprivation in some areas.
Committee convener Mark Salmond said: “Shared care means childminders will work alongside nurseries and playgroups to provide early learning and care for three to four year olds.
“If successful, this approach would provide a valuable option in delivering the Scottish Government’s commitment to delivering 1,140 hours per child per year by 2020.”
The “shared care” model would offer parents the choice of dividing the hours between childminders as well as nurseries and playgroups.
The council’s strategic director for people, Mark Armstrong, said: “The service is being piloted in Forfar due to a combination of two factors, namely a need to address pressure on places with nurseries and playgroups in the town, and the high scoring of some areas of Forfar on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation.
“Both of these factors are identified in the Angus Early Years Strategy as criteria for the targeting of services.
“To ascertain interest from childminders in providing this service, questionnaires were issued to all childminders in the Forfar area.”
Because the town’s childminders have been briefed on the pilot, the council will not have to advertise the 10 to 15 posts which will be filled via a “competitive process” with applicants demonstrating Care Inspectorate grades of 4 – “good” or above.
The pilot will operate from October 2017 until July 31 2018, and will be reviewed in April 2018.
The maximum value of contracts would be £66,800.
