Current status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 10 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether the safe staffing guidance for early learning and childcare settings has been reviewed, including in relation to safe staffing levels when supporting children with additional support needs.
The legislative requirements for Early Learning and Childcare settings falls under The Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act which was enacted on 1 April 2024. The Act is applicable to all health and care staff in Scotland. Statutory guidance was published on 1 April 2024 alongside the Act to support services to understand their responsibilities and ensure staffing arrangements meet the individual needs of people using care services.
The Health and Social Care Standards also detail expectations in relation to meeting the needs of people experiencing care, which includes children in ELC settings. In particular, section 3 includes details about staffing arrangements to meet individual needs.
The Care Inspectorate guidance on adult to child ratios in early learning and childcare settings sets out the minimum expectations for staffing levels in children's services. However, all children should have a personal plan where the service would capture, among other things, children's support needs, interests and stage of development, and this should be used to inform decisions about staffing levels. The ongoing maintenance of this guidance is the responsibility of the Care Inspectorate.
Under the Additional Support for Learning (ASL) Act 2004, education authorities are responsible for identifying and meeting the additional support needs of children in ELC settings. In line with the National Standard, we expect local authorities and funded providers to work together to support children with additional support needs to access appropriate support to ensure that children's disabilities or additional support needs do not provide a barrier to them accessing a full range of experiences, and meets their individual needs. It is for education authorities to determine the most appropriate provision for children and young people with ASN, taking account of their legislative responsibilities and the individual circumstances and wishes of children, young people and their families. Education authorities are supported with these decisions through the statutory supporting learners' code of practice guidance, which is accessible online at Additional support for learning: statutory guidance 2017