At tomorrow’s (1st Feb) meeting of the Education and Children’s Services (ECS) Committee, a paper is coming forward that recommends stopping all council-run OOSC (after school and/or breakfast clubs) at the end of this academic year (July). It was agreed in May last year to:

“1.2.3 Approve the officer recommendation for Aberdeenshire Council to
initiate engagement with private, independent and Third sector
providers to explore alternative delivery model in order to withdraw
from the direct delivery of school-aged care.”

Given that OOSC is a non-statutory service (and attracts no extra funding from Scottish Government), it is something that can be cut from the council’s budget to help plug the massive funding hole we have for the year ahead. If we want to keep doing things like gritting our roads, something else has to give, however painful it might be.

Council officers will be ready and available to support any parent group who would like to organise OOSC in their area (whether it would be replacing council OOSC or be in a new area).

Last night I attended a zoom meeting for affected Banchory parents, organised by Cllr Yi-pei Chou Turvey. In it, we explained the current situation as well as we could and Yi-pei gave examples of the way some parent groups had tackled the issue in their areas. If you want to use school property for OOSC, having the active support of your headteacher and parent council is vital. If OOSC is for under 2 hours per day at a particular venue, then the regulations are less onerous and it’s easier for parents to set up. Lots of questions put forward, most could be answered at the time (e.g OOSC has to be registered with the Care Inspectorate). Some questions we’ve passed along – details of actual meetings with third party providers and an ask for the list of alternative OOSC in Aberdeenshire (below). A report that staff had not been informed of the closing date has been passed along, and assurances have been received that all staff will be offered alternative positions in the early learning estate, with hopefully no interruption to any childcare qualifications being pursued.

You can find a list with contact emails of OOSC here:

Below are all the OOSC documents below that are coming to committee tomorrow. Some extracts:

“As of January 2024, the remaining 8 Council-run OOSC settings only serve 15
of the 146 operational primary schools in Aberdeenshire, providing a service to
349 children, around 2% of a total of 20,000 primary-aged pupils.”

“Despite efforts to achieve cost recovery, the ongoing provision of Council-run
OOSC results in a significant budget pressure with the result that
Aberdeenshire Council is effectively subsidising OOSC services for a small
number of children and families. On average, each of the 349 children currently
accessing OOSC provision through Aberdeenshire Council is ‘subsidised’ by
£1,427. These budget pressures have been long-standing but were previously
absorbed by underspends in the wider Early Years budgets. Given the current
Early Years staffing budget pressures, this means that the OOSC related
pressure will have to be offset by other areas of core budgets across ECS.”

“3.27 In line with the decision taken by ECS Committee on 23 March 2023, it is
recommended that Aberdeenshire Council identify the date for the withdrawal
from direct OOSC service delivery as 6 July 2023, at the end of the current
academic year. Officers can then refocus activity on developing and delivering
the proposed strategic framework for school-aged childcare in Aberdeenshire.
3.28 It is acknowledged that this withdrawal will impact on the families of the 349
children currently accessing Council-run OOSC services, but it is considered
that by confirming the date for withdrawal of service 6 months in advance, this
will allow parents/carers to make alternative arrangements either on an
individual or group basis, or indeed for the wider PVI sector to step into the
operating space vacated by Aberdeenshire Council.
Engagement with PVI Sector
3.29 To that end and to progress the action agreed by ECS Committee on 23 March
2023, informal discussions have taken place between officers and PVI
providers. Whilst there is interest and appetite from PVI providers to expand
their current OOSC service delivery offer into the localities where
Aberdeenshire Council operate, these discussions have been constrained by a
lack of clarity on the intent of Aberdeenshire Council. A clear decision to
withdraw on 6 July 2024 will provide impetus to further discussion, decision making and planning by the PVI providers. The 6-month window will also for an
appropriate lead-in time for registration with the Care Inspectorate as required.
3.30 The Early Years team has been reviewing the possibilities and pathways for the
PVI sector to move into the areas that Aberdeenshire Council currently delivers
in, and whilst it is acknowledged that our withdrawal may impact negatively on
those families currently accessing Council-run OOSC services in the shortterm, there will also be longer-term benefits for communities and the wider
sector.
3.31 The following scenarios are currently being explored:

1. Reviewing which PVI providers could diversify their Early Learning and
   Childcare (ELC) service offer to also deliver of school aged childcare. There
   are several PVI providers already operating in localities where
   Aberdeenshire Council currently operates in.
2. Reviewing which PVI providers that could expand into those localities where
   Aberdeenshire Council currently operates in i.e. OOSC PVI providers based
   in Aberdeen that can expand into areas of Aberdeenshire, such as Westhill,
   Page 89 Item 7
   Banchory and Portlethen. Also, there are Aberdeenshire OOSC PVI
   providers that have the capacity to be able to expand with Aberdeenshire.
   Considering the waiting lists, both scenarios 1 and 2 would involve
   ‘economies of scale’ that providers looking to expand and/or diversify would
   benefit from.
3. Facilitating community-led solutions through informal alternative provision,
   blended offer models and partnerships with other community organisations.
4. Collaboration between Aberdeenshire Council service and teams (Early
   Years, LLA, Tackling Poverty and Inequalities and Economic Development)
   and organisations (Aberdeenshire Voluntary Action, Scottish Childminding
   Association) to increase recruitment of childminders, provide business
   support, and explore informal alternative services (Active Schools)”