ONE of the defining policies of the next few years, both for the Glasgow city government and indeed across Scotland, will be the massive increase in the provision of free nursery education and childcare.

Effectively doubling what’s currently available, this revolution in early years’ will not only provide for the needs and demands of the modern working family but will also ensure that all of our city’s children have the best start in life.

It’s a programme we here in Glasgow will be in a position to deliver significantly ahead of what’s scheduled nationally. Indeed, some families already are availing of it.

By 2020 we will have delivered 1140 hours of free, flexible, high quality childcare for every three and four-year-old, with free provision for two-year-olds also significantly expanded.

It’s tricky to say what this will save the average family in costs. It obviously depends on how many children from an individual family attended nursery and what the parents’ or carers’ requirements are. But it does mean 30 free hours per week per individual child 38 weeks of the year, a major development in addressing the high cost of childcare. Only those wanting hours in excess of that will have to pay.

We can’t, however, simply make that leap. The existing system couldn’t cope. For those buying more than the current 600 free hours there will be an increase in fees, which I will explain below.

And there is also considerable misinformation to contend with. To be clear, this is not a policy about raising money. To present it as such would be misleading.

The decision to accelerate the 1140 free hours plan was made during our budget but it is not a policy where the single or sole aim is to pull in finances. Were it about savings, we could have made this up from elsewhere.

In short, to get us to where we want to be in the time we want to get there by, council nursery charges must be more aligned with (but will still be lower than) that of our partnership providers. Without our partnership nurseries we cannot deliver on our ambitions. We need their capacity. We need a level playing field to make this work.

We inherited a fractured early years’ system, one riddled with unfairness for too many families and where obvious problems were left unaddressed by the previous political administration

This situation has not been helped by cuts made by Labour to the early learning and childcare budget between 2013 and 2016 which has only added to the inequity which exists across the sector.

Our nursery provision has to prioritise need. It has to put to the front of the queue those families on low incomes. Indeed, two thirds of council nursery kids get all their provision for free.

But hundreds of working families who genuinely need access to a council nursery have been denied, either because there are not enough available or because the flexible hours many parents need was simply not provided for. This what we are changing.

What are we doing to help during that transition?

Our vulnerable and low income families will still benefit from the opportunity of additional free hours.

From August, those earning £30,000 or less will now be offered 900 free hours - 300 hours more than the national entitlement and an increase on the current policy of families earning £25,000 or less who are entitled to 800 hours.

We will continue to prioritise those in need.

We will also continue to seek more and better information for those who are trying to access our early years’ service and better assist them going forward. What are their household incomes, how many children will be coming through in the next two years and just how many hours do they require? These details will assist in grasping the exact scale of the challenges some families will face over the next two years. Until we can access and crunch those numbers, citing extreme scenarios as being typical of those impacted by the policy is unhelpful.

(For example, when the amount of free hours in Glasgow council nurseries was increased to 800 hours, of the 3000 children who could benefit only 380 took up the offer, just under one in 10.)

And our nursery head teachers will continue to liaise with parents and carers. Those on the front line with families know the bespoke circumstances and I believe the best way to engage on this issue and what it means for families in the short and medium term is best done at a person to person level.

Fees for some of those families buying more than the statutory 600 free hours will rise over the next two years, yes. But to derail that, to roll back on that, puts at risk our destination of high quality and flexible early learning and childcare provision, 1140 free hours and considerable annual savings for our hard-working families.