A report published last week, Working for Families: Lessons from the pilot projects (Stage One), evaluated the one-year pilot of three childcare projects in Glasgow and eight in Dumfries and Galloway.
Projects in Dumfries and Galloway included a sitter service, out-of-hours childcare, a roving creche, childminding and community transport. The roving creche may be extended into rural areas to link it to outreach learning centres and a mobile learning facility.
Projects in Glasgow include Childcare Extra in Easterhouse, which runs a subsidy scheme to help parents with childcare costs during the first few months of a new job or training, and provides a mentor to help them find childcare that suits their needs. Researchers identified several good practice lessons for future schemes, including setting up a steering group to oversee development with representatives from the local authority and childcare agencies; consultation with interested parties and regulatory bodies, such as the Care Commission, before finalising the project; and ensuring that staff were aware of local parents' needs.
The report said, 'Linking the contributions of childcare and economic development agencies is crucial for project success, as is the development of links with specialist agencies involved in areas such as tackling substance abuse and promoting literacy and numeracy.'
The Scottish Executive is making 20m available to ten local authorities chosen for the high number of children living in families dependent on Income Support or income-based Jobseekers Allowance. The move is part of the Executive's strategy to eliminate child poverty within a generation. The funding is aimed at lone parents, low-income families and households with problems such as substance abuse, illness or disabilities.
As well as Glasgow and Dumfries and Galloway, other local authorities to receive funding for projects are North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Dundee, North Ayrshire, Highland, East Ayrshire, West Dunbartonshire and Inverclyde.
The report is available on www. scotland.gov.uk/socialresearch.
The roving creche may be extended into rural areas to link it to outreach learning centres and a mobile learning facility. It will also be used to pilot a computer-based training package for potential childminders.