Meeting of the Parliament 03 June 2015
I refer Liz Smith to that parliamentary answer. She is right that we took our work from last year with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and our providers to upscale the provision to 600 hours. We then used that work to upscale to the further increased hours. All that information is in the parliamentary answer.
We introduced the 600 hours policy last year, and we have extended the hours this year. We understand that the timescales are challenging. We must look at the debate in the context of the additional hours, children and flexibility. In that context, it is reasonable to expect that an increase in flexibility and choice will be achieved on a phased and sustainable basis, with year-on-year growth.
It is also important to say that the Scottish Government fully funded the groundbreaking policy with £329 million committed over the first two years of its implementation. That figure was arrived at with our delivery partners in local government.
We are talking about early learning and childcare, and part of its importance is to support women back into work. We have begun to see results. Recent figures show that Scotland has the lowest rate of female unemployment of any European country, while female employment in Scotland is at a record level. Furthermore, the gap between male and female employment is at a near record low.
The Conservatives have suggested that one way of increasing flexibility would be to let parents have vouchers. However, we need to ensure that any such decision is made so that we can manage our education system to be the best that it can be for our youngest children. We must consider the policy and whether we think that a market-led, consumer approach to purchasing early learning and childcare will guarantee sufficient quality; integration with our education system and the curriculum for excellence; and integration with policy objectives such as getting it right for every child. Education Scotland and the Care Inspectorate are there to inspect and ensure quality in our providers and to help them to improve their provision.
We have committed to extending universal early learning and childcare to 30 hours a week by the end of the next session of Parliament. We believe—I hope that everyone agrees—that we should test the proposals for early learning and childcare against the principle of high-quality support to our youngest children to give them the best start in life.
I move amendment S4M-13312.3, to leave out from “notes” to end and insert:
“welcomes that, under the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014, all children aged three and four are now legally entitled to receive 600 hours of free early learning and childcare a year, more than under any previous administration; notes that local authorities have received £329 million in new money to fund implementation of this groundbreaking policy; further notes that local authorities are developing plans to engage with parents and families to ensure that the design and delivery of provision is flexible enough to meet families’ needs; welcomes that this unprecedented investment in early learning and childcare enables more parents, and in particular women, to return to work, as evidenced by Scotland now having the lowest rate of female unemployment of any country in Europe; condemns the UK Government’s proposals to only increase provision in England for parents who work, excluding those who need help most, and supports proposals to extend universal, free early learning and childcare in Scotland to 30 hours per week for the school year by the end of the next parliamentary session.”
16:09Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.
- S4M-13312.3 Nursery Vouchers Motion