Meeting of the Parliament 27 May 2026 [Draft]
I do not think that it is realistic to say that progress has not been made. In my first response to Willie Rennie, I noted that Scotland is the only place in the UK that funds the real living wage, because we have put fair work at the centre of our expansion to 1,140. I say to members across the chamber that I understand that there are a number of areas that we need to learn from with regard to 1,140 and that I will discuss those with them. That is a broad commitment.
I want to acknowledge parents and carers who are wrestling every day with the joys and challenges of raising children. They do that with varying support networks and in a cost of living crisis, but they always do it to the best of their ability. I saw that this morning and I thank them for that.
That allows me to say, in my first debate as Cabinet Secretary for Education, Culture and Gaelic, that I am proud to take over this area, which has been prioritised by the Scottish Government: from the baby box, which provides the essentials for the first six months of life, to our transformational 1,140 childcare offer; and from our breakfast and after-school club investment to free school meal provision, investment in health visiting, family nurse partnerships, supporting women with breastfeeding and, of course, the groundbreaking Scottish child payment. I am very proud of the fact that we are putting in place the building blocks of success for children in Scotland.
On that note, my colleague Shirley-Anne Somerville, who spoke in the chamber before me, published “Bringing Hope, Building Futures” prior to the dissolution of the Parliament. It sets out the concrete action that we will take in pursuit of our goal of eradicating child poverty in Scotland, which we estimate will keep 100,000 children out of relative poverty this year. Surely that is a goal that we can all get behind.
In its aim of eradicating child poverty, the plan is absolutely clear that supporting parents and carers who are currently locked out of the labour market to work is an important part of our work. We know that those barriers exist particularly for women, who are more likely to take on caring responsibilities, reduce their working hours, or feel that they cannot work at all because it does not make financial sense. That is fine if that is what families choose to do, but it is not fine if it is not a choice. I have that at the forefront of my mind. We will take action to remove those barriers, not only because it is the right thing for families but because it is the right thing for our economy.
I will look for a moment at the Government’s record in childcare and what we have been delivering to date: the universal early learning and childcare offer for every three and four-year-old, as well as around a quarter of two-year-olds. They are often referred to as “eligible two-year-olds”, but I prefer what the City of Edinburgh Council calls them, which I was told today is “terrific twos”. We are delivering that through an investment of around £1 billion a year, which is worth about £6,400 per family per eligible child. I think that we would all agree that that is a sizeable contribution to family budgets. It has to be said that going from the around 600 hours that we inherited when we came into government to delivering the 1,140 hours that parents have been benefiting from since 2021 is a massive achievement. We are also clear that now is the time to move on to the next transformational change in provision.