Meeting of the Parliament 22 January 2026
I thank Ms Roddick for bringing the debate to the chamber and for highlighting the excellent work that is being done in the Growing2gether nursery programme. A lot of what she said resonates with me. I am glad that the programme is helping to eliminate the feeling of not having a place or a purpose, because every child in this country deserves to feel special.
I thank members for their heartfelt contributions in today’s debate. It has been terrific to hear about the unique approach that the programme takes and the clear benefits to young people, as the providers of support rather than the recipients. I convey a heartfelt thanks to everyone involved.
Members have already touched on some of the ways in which Growing2gether has helped to support young people. Those who have been supported through the programme have said that it has led to a surge in their confidence, mental health and respect for others, helping them to find skills and qualities that they did not know that they had. It is heartening to hear that feedback, which shows the growth in self-esteem and resilience that the programme is enabling for our young people.
Programmes such as Growing2gether demonstrate the powerful role that positive, supportive relationships play in shaping children and young people’s behaviour, wellbeing and engagement with learning. By giving young people the opportunity to take on responsibility, build empathy and form nurturing relationships with younger children, that work helps to deliver the social and emotional skills that underpin positive behaviour in school and beyond.
This strengths-based preventative approach aligns closely with our focus on promoting positive relationships, supporting emotional regulation and addressing the underlying causes of disengagement, rather than responding only when behaviour reaches crisis points. It shows how relational, community-based programmes can complement the work of schools, contribute to calmer, more inclusive learning environments and support our young people to be successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors. I am really interested in that point, because—as either someone said, or I read—the programme has been very helpful for young people who were quite disengaged with school, by bringing them back in. That is really important. We talk a lot in the chamber about attainment and ensuring that children are able to attend their school, and I have spoken a lot about the virtual school network, but I am interested in understanding more about approaches that can help over and above that.
We are pleased to have provided more than £800,000 to support the nursery programme through our place-based, community-led regeneration funding over a number of years.
There has been some talk about disadvantaged young people and, before I touch on a couple of other points in the debate, it is important to highlight some of the steps that we are taking to provide wider support to children and young people. We are continuing to invest more than £1 billion every year in 1,140 hours of high-quality funded early learning and childcare for all three and four-year-olds and eligible two-year-olds. In last week’s budget, we announced a universal breakfast club offer for primary school children in Scotland, to be delivered by August 2027. We also announced new investment to expand after-school and holiday clubs for primary school children, which will support parents with wraparound care options and provide an important range of activities for children.
I absolutely agree with Ms McCall’s points. Sometimes we talk about extremely emotive subjects in this Parliament, and this is one of them. We want to ensure that our youngest children get the support that they need to reach those developmental milestones and that the families get the support that they need to deliver that. We are taking a number of actions through whole-family support, whole-family wellbeing and all the preventative work that I regularly talk about with Ms McCall and any other member who will listen to me.
On top of that, there are a number of other actions. In December, we published our “Early Years Speech, Language and Communication Action Plan”, which sets out our preventative, strategic approach—to build on existing strengths, address gaps in support, and place families and communities at the heart of that work.
We are also delivering the game-changing Scottish child payment, which is forecast to support the families of around 330,000 children next year. Since the benefit launched, we have paid out more than £3 billion and, of course, we have just expanded it to £40 for children under one.
In relation to the Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill, making provisions to support babies is an absolute priority. There are already provisions for that in the bill, but I am hoping to extend them further at stage 2 and I will meet Ms McCall to discuss some of that very soon.
As I have said, I am very interested in the programme and the points that have been made. I am a big believer in intergenerational work and I believe in it for all age groups. Generally speaking, I think that that work has been done more by pairing younger people with elderly people, so I am interested in it for this age group. To take a slightly personal slant, my two children do not have much access to teens or older children, and I can see how that intergenerational work would benefit even them.
As I said to Ms Roddick earlier in the debate, I would be grateful if she could send me more information on the programme. In looking at the future of the programme, I will certainly take into consideration the points that members have raised.
I will finish by congratulating everyone involved in Growing2gether, which is enabling our children and young people to develop the skills, values and resilience that are needed to build a brighter future. I am sure that Growing2gether will continue to build on the superb work that has been done so far, and I wish the programme every success in the future. Again, I thank Ms Roddick for bringing the debate to the chamber.