Sustainable Rates Review Implementation Working Group Minutes: September 2025

Attendees and apologies

• Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES) Resources
• Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES) Early Years Network
• Care and Learning Alliance (CALA)
• Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA)
• Early Years Scotland (EYS)
• Improvement Service
• National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) Scotland
• Scottish Government (SG) (Chair)

Apologies

Apologies were received from Scottish Childminding Association, Directors of Finance Network, and some members of the ADES Early Years Network and ADES Resources Network.

Items and actions

Minutes and Actions of Previous Meeting

The Chair thanked members for providing comments and feedback on the minutes from the working group meeting on 2 July and advised that the minutes have now been finalised and published on the Scottish Government (SG) website.  

There were no further questions or comments from members on the minutes or actions from the previous meeting.

ELC Cost Surveys

The Chair invited the Diffley Partnership to provide an update on progress with the Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) cost surveys. This update focused on the approach to maximising the response sample, ongoing data analysis and quality assurance, some initial very high level illustrative emerging national level findings, and next steps for producing robust detailed analysis of the final response sample.

The Diffley Partnership highlighted that since the cost surveys closed on 18 July, they have focused on additional follow-up engagement with providers who had started but had not yet completed the survey. This was with the intention of maximising the overall number of responses. The Diffley Partnership reported that there were around 500 providers - comprising around 340 private and third sector providers and around 160 childminders – who had engaged with the surveys and provided some information that could be analysed. However, it was highlighted that of these, around 270 providers has submitted all of the data required for the cost per hour calculations. Some providers had indicated to the Diffley Partnership that they did not want to provide this information due to concerns about the commercially sensitive nature of the data requested.

The Diffley Partnership emphasised that no confidential information about individual childcare providers will be shared with the Scottish Government, Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) or local authorities. All of the data will be anonymised and aggregated by the Diffley Partnership before it is shared.

The Diffley Partnership’s initial view is that based on the survey response rate, local authority-level analysis will only be possible for some areas due to the need to protect provider confidentiality. However, they are confident that they will be able to provide robust estimates at both national and regional levels. This will include estimates by size of provider; type of provider (including estimates of costs of delivery for outdoor services); and by geography (for example splits by rural/remote/urban).

The Diffley Partnership highlighted that they are continuing to analyse, and quality assure, the responses. However, they shared, in confidence, with Working Group members some very early emerging high level findings from their analysis. All findings presented were at a national level, and were subject to further quality assurance which would likely result in changes.

Working Group members were then invited to share their views on the update.

Members asked what had been done differently this time to increase survey responses compared to previous surveys. It was highlighted that several additional steps were taken, in particular to ensure provider and sector involvement in the process. This included the programme of provider reference groups, which were held in Autumn 2024, and the Diffley Partnership ran an extended pilot and engagement phase with providers to develop and refine the survey. Although final confirmed response numbers are not yet available, the overall response rate is expected to be between the response rates to the previous national cost surveys, which were undertaken by Ipsos Mori in 2016 and 2022, respectively.

It was noted that it is important to look at how any cost estimates compared between settings in rural and remote areas, and those in more urban areas. The Diffley Partnership emphasised that this breakdown will be considered as part of the data quality assurance process.

It was highlighted that a potential reason for a lower than expected response was that providers needed to see evidence of changes happening on the back of these types of exercises. Action on the back of the full ELC cost survey findings, when available, could help build trust with providers before any similar exercises were undertaken in the future. It was noted that collecting this information predominately through a survey may not be the best approach for some providers.

Members highlighted that it would be helpful if clear communications could be produced on the current status of the work and next steps, which they could share with their members.

It was also noted that, for overall transparency, it would be helpful for costs of delivery to be presented for all types of services, including those delivered by local authorities.

Actions

• SG and COSLA will prepare a draft process update for members to share with providers. This update will cover the survey response rates, the process that Diffley are currently going through to quality assure and analysis the data, and broad next steps
• The Diffley Partnership will continue to analyse and quality assure the survey responses, alongside additional activity to collect supporting qualitative information from childminders
• As part of the above the Diffley Partnership will take account of some technical points raised during the meeting regarding appropriate data populations for comparisons
• When available, the SG and COSLA will consider the draft findings from the ELC Cost Surveys and assess their implications for policy guidance and funding

Forward look to agenda for next meeting and AOB

The Chair thanked members for attending and participating.

The Chair advised members that the next Sustainable Rates Review Implementation Working Group (SRRIWG) will be held in November and will focus on consideration of the detailed draft results of the ELC cost surveys and next steps for finalising the outputs. The next SRRIWG meeting is likely to also consider the potential implications for the 2026 to 2027 Sustainable Rates Guidance.