A NURSERY boss has claimed that Scottish Government policies have created a “death spiral” in the quality of nursery provision and destroyed the industry’s labour market.

Jonathan Bruneau, who runs Pumpkin Patch Nurseries in East Lothian, launched a scathing attack on the Government for both its current move to provide 1,140 hours of free early learning and care provision for all three-year-olds from next year, and changes to law which demand all staff have mandatory registration.

He said that the demand for additional free hours, combined with a lack in available staff, had created a decline in standards rather than the desired increase.

And he also accused local authorities of “poaching” experienced staff from his nurseries.

He told the Courier: “We have become a training ground for state nurseries. We get nursery staff to the stage of qualified and they ‘nick’ them thereafter.”

East Lothian Council has insisted it is working with nursery providers to help attract more people into the industry.

Mr Bruneau’s comments came after one of his nurseries in Haddington saw its grades fall from an annual average of 4 (good) and 5 (very good) to just 2 (weak) following a Care Inspectorate inspection in February.

The Haddington Pumpkin Patch Nursery fell short of inspectors’ expectations when it was graded on performance of staffing and care and support.

This came despite inspectors noting the commitment of staff to providing “a nurturing environment for children”.

Concerns raised involved the impact of staff absences and turnover, leading to the use of agency staff, and failures to update personal plans for children.

Parents questioned about the nursery praised staff, with one saying: “The staff are its greatest asset and really caring and dedicated.”

Another added: “My child has developed strong bonds with all the staff and we see an improvement in his behaviour and development since starting.”

However, there were failures to update personal plan records for some children and criticism of communication with parents.

Mr Bruneau, who also has Pumpkin Patch Nurseries in Dunbar and North Berwick, responded by expressing frustration that trained staff were being “poached” by the local authority.

And he laid the blame at the feet of the “highest level of government”.

He said the loss of trained staff had an impact on the Haddington nursery, adding: “This is where Haddington finds itself. Staff have left to go to state nurseries.”

He said that private nurseries faced having “a gun held to our head” by Care Inspectorate visits, with a drop in grades meaning a nursery could lose its partnership grant funding, which supports placements for parents.

Mr Bruneau said: “We have to achieve the same standards as the state nurseries without the funding they receive and the staff they retain, often at our expense.

“It is not a level playing field and has become unsustainable.”

Mr Bruneau said across his nurseries grades now ranged from 5 to 2, but he added that the only difference was their ability or luck in retaining staff.

He said: “The policies of the Scottish Government have acted to destroy the labour market for nurseries.

“It’s become impossible to recruit staff with appropriate experience, motivation and qualifications due to policies which date back to mandatory SSSC (Scottish Social Services Council) registration for all staff in 2012.

“The most recent decision to roll out 1,140 hours of free nursery provision for 3-plus-year-olds from next year has led to a further erosion of our labour force due to constant poaching of staff by the local authority and/or fellow nurseries themselves struggling to recruit.

“This is a systemic problem which is causing a death spiral in the quality of nursery provision throughout the industry.

“We will endeavour to train and re-establish a new generation of nursery practitioners but my prediction is that once they reach maturity the same vicious cycle will continue and we will lose them to the local authority all over again.

“It’s the law of unintended and badly thought through policies at the highest levels of government.”

In response, an East Lothian Council spokesperson said: “Early learning and childcare (ELC) is a growing sector, with up to 11,000 new recruits needed across Scotland by 2020.

“We’re working with all our partners and providers to attract people into this rewarding area.

“A wide range of people attended our recent career fair at Queen Margaret University, keen to find out more about working in the sector and the career pathways on offer across private, community and local authority settings.

“We are currently looking at a joint follow-up event with our funded partners, as well as two events for people interested in becoming registered childminders, and will continue to involve and support our partners in this work.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We and local authorities are working in partnership with providers to increase funded early learning and childcare so that children have more opportunities to play and learn in a high-quality early learning centre setting, and the Care Inspectorate have an important role in ensuring standards are as high as possible.

“We recognise there are challenges involved in expanding our ELC workforce to meet this commitment.

“We are working in partnership to ensure the necessary support is in place – including running a national ELC recruitment campaign; increasing our support for ELC training places and modern apprenticeships; and enabling providers to advertise ELC jobs free on the MyJobScotland website.”