Meeting of the Parliament 03 June 2015
I thank Mary Scanlon for her very generous remarks in the previous debate about Charles Kennedy, following his sudden and untimely death. He was a gifted politician, a Liberal to his core and a Highlander first and last. I had the privilege of being able to call him a friend, but I know that his passing is mourned by those across the political spectrum and far beyond.
The minister is well aware that we share her aspiration for a revolution in childcare; indeed, in consecutive budgets, we have pushed for extended provision for two-year-olds. As a result, 27 per cent of Scotland’s two-year-olds will benefit, as the minister has confirmed. However, although that is good, I am concerned that we are still lagging behind the 40 per cent of those from disadvantaged backgrounds who are benefiting elsewhere in the UK. I hope that the next phase of this revolution will see more of Scotland’s two-year-olds getting access to these opportunities.
There is, after all, overwhelming evidence that investment in the first few years of a child’s life is crucial in shaping their life chances. Investment in childcare later on is welcome, but if the attainment gap is to be addressed and inequality is to be reduced, a ruthless focus is required on investment in quality learning and childcare in the very early years. I have made that argument many times before, and I make no apologies for making it again.
As we look at future provision, we must ensure that what happens now is of high quality and meets the needs of children and their parents, and that it is not simply determined by the constraints of local government. As others have said, increasing flexibility is key to achieving that. By the Government’s own admission, that flexibility is not yet available in the way that we would like it to be.
Across Scotland, delivery of the current childcare offering is sketchy. Some councils offer partnership arrangements to many nurseries that fit parents’ wishes; others are more cautious and severely limit the partnership funding and partnership status. I encourage the minister to consider what more could be done to encourage councils to provide genuine flexibility through an increase in the number of partnership nurseries, taking into account the wishes and needs of parents.
In the time that is available to me, I want to briefly address the issue of the workforce, which is not referred to in the motion or the amendments but which is obviously key to the success of childcare and early learning in Scotland. The pressure on those who work in the sector has inevitably increased through the expansion in entitlement. With further expansions on the horizon, we must ensure that Scotland has the early years workforce that it needs to provide first-class care and education for our children. That means training more specialists as well as ensuring that those who already work in the sector remain content in their careers and are equipped to deal with the new demands that we place on them.
I understand that a review is under way. It would be helpful perhaps if the minister could update members in her closing remarks on the progress with that review and when we might expect recommendations to emerge from it.
Like others, I welcome the fact that we continue to have a focus on early learning and nursery provision. I think that there is cross-party support for more hours of high-quality childcare, but there is a long way to go before the delivery catches up with our aspirations. That is something that we must be aware of and that we must work quickly and creatively to resolve.
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