NURSERIES will not be left short-staffed by the Scottish Government's free childcare pledge despite concerns about recruitment, the children's minister has pledged.

After a report warning the success or failure of increasing free childcare hours from 600 to 1,140 a year is "critically dependent on achieving much in a short time", Maree Todd said she was confident all workers and infrastructure would be in place by August.

An Audit Scotland review of the progress in expanding childcare revealed more than 4,000 additional staff need to be employed to allow for the increase in free early learning and childcare hours.

But in a Holyrood debate about the expansion, Todd vowed no childcare provider would be left understaffed by the policy.

Responding to a question by Liam Kerr about recruitment concerns, she said: "Yes, I do guarantee that we will not find ourselves short of staff by August 2020.

READ MORE: Timeline to recruit 4000 new Scottish nursery staff is ‘tight’

"I know that there are concerns about movement of staff from the private and third-sector settings to local authorities but I want to assure all providers that everything we do nationally to support the early learning and childcare workforce we do it to support every sector – private, public and voluntary."

She added: "I genuinely believe that we are on track because we are working effectively together and that 'we' is broad – it's Government, councils, public bodies, private, voluntary, nurseries, childminders and more.

"I know there remains much work to do – I am confident that with the continued close partnership working that has characterised this expansion so far that we are on course to deliver the most generous, high quality early learning and childcare offer in the UK."

Opening the debate, Scottish Conservative education spokesman Jamie Greene praised the intention of the policy and welcomed the extra recruitment – the equivalent of 4,310 full-time staff – hired since funding for the policy began.

But he argued local authorities had been "underfunded since the outset" and would struggle to deliver the required staffing and infrastructure in time.

"Quite how the Government is going to double up its recruitment numbers in just a few short months is beyond me," he said.

Describing funding as "the big elephant in the room", Greene said: "The reality is that today many nurseries only survive by being able to top up the subsidised 600 hours per hour per child rate.

"Under the new contract, they will have to deliver the funded hours at the agreed rate of subsidy. No top-ups, no extra.

"For many, to put it simply, the rate is less than the cost of providing the care and learning."

He suggested nurseries will face a choice between increasing the rate for extra hours or reducing the quality of care offered.

"We know who the losers are in that equation – the very people that the funded hours seek to help in the first place," he said.

Speaking about staffing concerns, Labour's Mary Fee said: "In the next four to five months, the number of additional staff required in council settings is estimated to be over 2,200 - around 27% of the full-time equivalent staff."

She said that was a "major challenge" for councils.

Scottish Greens co-leader Alison Johnstone said much of the Scottish Government's expansion plans "rest on being able to achieve a great deal in a very short space of time" – with some of the proposed new facilities not due to be ready until July or August.

Liberal Democrat Beatrice Wishart stressed her party backed the expansion of free early years childcare but there were many issues "not about the direction of travel but how we are getting there".