Affordable Child Care Project Inverclyde

Published 26/09/2023.  Last updated 26/03/2024

Inverclyde Council’s CLD Services is a key partner in a new childcare initiative in Port Glasgow. Inverclyde Council is currently piloting an affordable out-of-school childcare scheme aimed at low-income families in Port Glasgow. The council has received just over £200,000 from the Scottish Government to become an ‘early adopter’ in the design and development of community-based childcare for school-age children. CLD officers are taking a leading role in planning, developing, implementing and evaluating the project. In particular, their role has been to support the participation of children and parents, as well as a range of partner organisations, in the co-design of the service.

Addressing Community Need

The pilot childcare hub, based in Newark Primary School, was launched in January 2023. It supports up to 30 young people from the area who’s families are living on a low income and are one of the priority groups outlined in the Council’s Child Poverty Action Plan.

The project contributes to the ‘Empowering Communities’ priority in the Inverclyde CLD action plan which states that: ‘Understanding what the key issues are in communities will help us to identify what actions will best help to tackle the challenges we face such as child poverty, deprivation, health inequalities, the economy and the support needed for an ageing population.’

Description

The aim of the project is to provide an affordable, high quality, and responsive out-of-school care programme in an area of high deprivation which increases the education, training or work opportunities for local families. This is being achieved by focussing on the following outcomes for both parents/carers, and children and young people:

  1. Parents in work will have increased opportunities to increase their hours
  2. Parents in education or enrolling in education or learning will have increased support through affordable out of school childcare
  3. Parents on an employability journey will benefit from local support to enable them to increase their employment opportunities.
  4. Children engaged in the project will have improved:
  • learning and development outcomes
  • physical health
  • opportunities in life for the children who receive the service
  • quality of life

The project is also seeking to bring about the following system changes in Inverclyde:

  • We actively refer rather than signpost.
  • Increased voluntary or independent childcare provision in local area.
  • Increased family friendly job opportunities.
  • Our learning is fed into how we deliver support, train our staff and communicate with our community.
  • Stigma is reduced for families accessing services due to increased awareness and knowledge of staff and ease of access.
  • Employees (and potential employees) are not penalised for being a parent.

Phase 1 of the project ended in June 2023.

In that phase:

  • A scoping exercise with 196 local families, both in person and online, helped to shape the project.
  • CLD staff and local procurement services hosted discussions with local childcare businesses and undertook a mapping exercise which identified the local organisation with the capacity to deliver the service.
  • Up to 30 children have received out of school care, free at the point of access.
  • Each parent has had the opportunity to discuss their individual needs and find out more about participating in the project.

Phase 2 of the project will:

  • Investigate opportunities to develop an enhanced out of school care package for families in the area, including breakfast clubs, after school childcare and suitable childminding and school holiday care.
  • Support existing local providers to create a sustainable workforce within the childcare sector.

Support local people interested in becoming, restarting, or expanding their child minding services through education opportunities with West College Scotland and a stronger employability pathway to engage parents furthest away from the labour market.

Impact

A community celebration for children, families, and stakeholders in June 2023, highlighted the following impacts of phase 1:

  • Parents were engaged to prioritise how the childcare service made them feel, what difference was it making in their lives. The three recurring statements were.
  • This (the after-school care) is helpful for me
  • I am supported (by the after-school care)
  • I am reassured (by the after-school care)
  • Working parents reported that not only does the affordable child care help to look after the children after school, but it has massively reduced the stress on the wider family (friends and neighbours).
  • The service has also provided support to families with snacks and meals for the children. This helps with the evening routine after the parent finishes work and means that they get to spend some time with the child before bedtime. Parents have advised that they have been able to take on additional shifts in work and don’t have to worry about pick up after school.
  • Parents suggested that holiday and breakfast care is needed to help with childcare.

Evidence of Impact

  • Feedback from initial community consultations and mapping of local service providers.
  • Local and national research
  • Interviews: Eighteen of the families had received their second interview service by the end of March 2023. This interview discussed how the family were finding the childcare, how was the child was settling in, the outcome of advice first service and if they required an employability referral.
  • Celebration event and focus group with children, parents, and stakeholders.

Quotes from parents

“First Service available for full time working parents. I cannot fault it.”

“I am able to work without fear of missing my daughter finish school”

“Excellent service for working parents”

Challenges

  • One of the real challenges has been the lack of childcare capacity in Inverclyde. Phase 2 of the project will seek to address this by supporting service providers within and out with the Inverclyde area to increase capacity to deliver affordable out of school child care, and support opportunities for local people to train as child minders.
  • Our analysis of local and national research tells us that childcare is not the only challenge many families face when they are trying to access employability training, education, or work. There are times when more intensive support is required, and a dedicated family wellbeing worker could be a vital link for families going forward.
  • The project is currently funded through a short-term grant from the Scottish Government

Next Steps

  1. The service will continue to develop an affordable out of school care package.
  2. CLD staff and partners will increase their engagement with children and parents to further co-design childcare services in phase 2. That phase will focus on the families at the beginning of their employability journey and provide a range of local advice, assistance and support to encourage employment, training or learning.
  3. Continue to work with other services to engage with families. This includes nurseries, community and third sector services, social work, employability service and schools etc.
  4. The findings of the pilot will be a valuable resource for developing out-of-school care provision in the future, in Inverclyde and across Scotland.

Reflections

Our advice would be to engage from the onset with:

  • perspective service users, to identify exactly what services they require, discuss how this can be delivered, and ensure expectations are managed.
  • procurement and information governance colleagues to ensure that the service is fully compliant from the outset.
  • schools to make them fully aware of the service and agree a data sharing process to ensure the needs of the children are recorded by the child care provider.

Local partner organisations to identify a location that is accessible for the families and is also suitable for the type of service that will be delivered.

Other information

Community Learning & Development 3 Year Strategy - Inverclyde Council

Inverclyde Child Poverty Action Plan: Poverty - Inverclyde Council

 

Contact: Louise McVey - Louise.mcvey@inverclyde.gov.uk

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Affordable Child Care Project Inverclyde

Published 26/09/2023.  Last updated 26/03/2024

Inverclyde Council’s CLD Services is a key partner in a new childcare initiative in Port Glasgow. Inverclyde Council is currently piloting an affordable out-of-school childcare scheme aimed at low-income families in Port Glasgow. The council has received just over £200,000 from the Scottish Government to become an ‘early adopter’ in the design and development of community-based childcare for school-age children. CLD officers are taking a leading role in planning, developing, implementing and evaluating the project. In particular, their role has been to support the participation of children and parents, as well as a range of partner organisations, in the co-design of the service.

Addressing Community Need

The pilot childcare hub, based in Newark Primary School, was launched in January 2023. It supports up to 30 young people from the area who’s families are living on a low income and are one of the priority groups outlined in the Council’s Child Poverty Action Plan.

The project contributes to the ‘Empowering Communities’ priority in the Inverclyde CLD action plan which states that: ‘Understanding what the key issues are in communities will help us to identify what actions will best help to tackle the challenges we face such as child poverty, deprivation, health inequalities, the economy and the support needed for an ageing population.’

Description

The aim of the project is to provide an affordable, high quality, and responsive out-of-school care programme in an area of high deprivation which increases the education, training or work opportunities for local families. This is being achieved by focussing on the following outcomes for both parents/carers, and children and young people:

  1. Parents in work will have increased opportunities to increase their hours
  2. Parents in education or enrolling in education or learning will have increased support through affordable out of school childcare
  3. Parents on an employability journey will benefit from local support to enable them to increase their employment opportunities.
  4. Children engaged in the project will have improved:
  • learning and development outcomes
  • physical health
  • opportunities in life for the children who receive the service
  • quality of life

The project is also seeking to bring about the following system changes in Inverclyde:

  • We actively refer rather than signpost.
  • Increased voluntary or independent childcare provision in local area.
  • Increased family friendly job opportunities.
  • Our learning is fed into how we deliver support, train our staff and communicate with our community.
  • Stigma is reduced for families accessing services due to increased awareness and knowledge of staff and ease of access.
  • Employees (and potential employees) are not penalised for being a parent.

Phase 1 of the project ended in June 2023.

In that phase:

  • A scoping exercise with 196 local families, both in person and online, helped to shape the project.
  • CLD staff and local procurement services hosted discussions with local childcare businesses and undertook a mapping exercise which identified the local organisation with the capacity to deliver the service.
  • Up to 30 children have received out of school care, free at the point of access.
  • Each parent has had the opportunity to discuss their individual needs and find out more about participating in the project.

Phase 2 of the project will:

  • Investigate opportunities to develop an enhanced out of school care package for families in the area, including breakfast clubs, after school childcare and suitable childminding and school holiday care.
  • Support existing local providers to create a sustainable workforce within the childcare sector.

Support local people interested in becoming, restarting, or expanding their child minding services through education opportunities with West College Scotland and a stronger employability pathway to engage parents furthest away from the labour market.

Impact

A community celebration for children, families, and stakeholders in June 2023, highlighted the following impacts of phase 1:

  • Parents were engaged to prioritise how the childcare service made them feel, what difference was it making in their lives. The three recurring statements were.
  • This (the after-school care) is helpful for me
  • I am supported (by the after-school care)
  • I am reassured (by the after-school care)
  • Working parents reported that not only does the affordable child care help to look after the children after school, but it has massively reduced the stress on the wider family (friends and neighbours).
  • The service has also provided support to families with snacks and meals for the children. This helps with the evening routine after the parent finishes work and means that they get to spend some time with the child before bedtime. Parents have advised that they have been able to take on additional shifts in work and don’t have to worry about pick up after school.
  • Parents suggested that holiday and breakfast care is needed to help with childcare.

Evidence of Impact

  • Feedback from initial community consultations and mapping of local service providers.
  • Local and national research
  • Interviews: Eighteen of the families had received their second interview service by the end of March 2023. This interview discussed how the family were finding the childcare, how was the child was settling in, the outcome of advice first service and if they required an employability referral.
  • Celebration event and focus group with children, parents, and stakeholders.

Quotes from parents

“First Service available for full time working parents. I cannot fault it.”

“I am able to work without fear of missing my daughter finish school”

“Excellent service for working parents”

Challenges

  • One of the real challenges has been the lack of childcare capacity in Inverclyde. Phase 2 of the project will seek to address this by supporting service providers within and out with the Inverclyde area to increase capacity to deliver affordable out of school child care, and support opportunities for local people to train as child minders.
  • Our analysis of local and national research tells us that childcare is not the only challenge many families face when they are trying to access employability training, education, or work. There are times when more intensive support is required, and a dedicated family wellbeing worker could be a vital link for families going forward.
  • The project is currently funded through a short-term grant from the Scottish Government

Next Steps

  1. The service will continue to develop an affordable out of school care package.
  2. CLD staff and partners will increase their engagement with children and parents to further co-design childcare services in phase 2. That phase will focus on the families at the beginning of their employability journey and provide a range of local advice, assistance and support to encourage employment, training or learning.
  3. Continue to work with other services to engage with families. This includes nurseries, community and third sector services, social work, employability service and schools etc.
  4. The findings of the pilot will be a valuable resource for developing out-of-school care provision in the future, in Inverclyde and across Scotland.

Reflections

Our advice would be to engage from the onset with:

  • perspective service users, to identify exactly what services they require, discuss how this can be delivered, and ensure expectations are managed.
  • procurement and information governance colleagues to ensure that the service is fully compliant from the outset.
  • schools to make them fully aware of the service and agree a data sharing process to ensure the needs of the children are recorded by the child care provider.

Local partner organisations to identify a location that is accessible for the families and is also suitable for the type of service that will be delivered.

Other information

Community Learning & Development 3 Year Strategy - Inverclyde Council

Inverclyde Child Poverty Action Plan: Poverty - Inverclyde Council

 

Contact: Louise McVey - Louise.mcvey@inverclyde.gov.uk

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