The planned rollout of extended free nursery hours in Edinburgh has been postponed.
Families across the city have received letters from Edinburgh Council informing them that due to the coronavirus pandemic, the council will be prioritising existing funded hours for children when schools and nurseries return.
Scottish Government ministers have revoked the legal requirement for councils across the country to provide 1140 hours per year of pre-school early learning, which was due to begin in August, to allow local authorities to focus on responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Edinburgh Council had been preparing to extend free hours by building new nurseries and recruiting staff.
The letter states: "The impact of the corona virus has meant that our plans will not be ready for August 2020; the new nursery buildings will not be completed and the staff will not all be recruited in time to provide everyone with 1140 hours of ELC.
"Therefore, I am writing to inform you that it will be necessary to amend our plans for the implementation of 1140 placements. I know that some parents will be very disappointed by this news as you might already have incorporated this entitlement into your childcare plans for August."
A council spokesman said: "In response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the Scottish Government have postponed the statutory entitlement of every child to receive 1140 hours of funded Early Learning and Childcare from August 2020.
"A parent and carer letter has been made available to all parents to explain our current position and our aim to prioritise funded hours for Edinburgh`s children as soon as we are through this difficult time.
"Funded early learning and childcare is changing from 600 hours to 1,140 hours per year for children who are aged 3 or 4 as well as some 2-year olds whose parents or carers are on certain benefits. We have had to amend our plans on when the full entitlement will be available due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, please see above. We are working on allocation of places and will be in touch to confirm what we are able to provide for you for August 2020."
