We’re delighted that three years after opening, our pilot service in Dundee is demonstrating measurable benefits, both economic and social, for individuals and for communities. This report describes what Flexible Childcare Services Scotland does; who it’s for; why it works; and the value it brings to individuals, families and the wider community.
Three features – affordability and flexibility and quality – shape the design of Flexible Childcare Services Scotland (FCSS), a unique childcare service which provides home-based care, daycare, out-of-school care, and crèche.
By responding directly to parents, particularly single parents, who are living on benefits or low incomes, our service is improving parents’ prospects as well as those of their children.
Flexible and affordable childcare can help low-income families, including single parents gain new skills, find work, earn a good income and provide a more secure future for themselves and their children.
This results in:
- Private benefits to the people using the service (which they pay towards in fees)
- Economic/fiscal benefits of people paying income tax because they are in work rather than claiming welfare benefits because they can’t work
- Health and social benefits of parents who are supported to work and train
- Long-term benefits for children in reducing poverty and improving educational attainment and life chances
It is possible to quantify some of the social return arising from this. We estimate (conservatively) that the savings to the public purse for the year 2017/18 are £253,437.
