Hansard

I am very grateful to Jamie Hepburn for securing the debate, on one of my favourite subjects—or one of my favourite rants—which is the cost of childcare in Scotland.

Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting Save the Children to discuss, among other matters, the survey that led to its report, “Making Work Pay—The Childcare Trap”. I could quibble about some of the methodology, given that it is a UK-wide survey and I am not sure how representative the Scottish samples are, but I will not do that, because by nature I am not a pedant.

More fundamentally, anybody who has ears to listen and eyes to see will know that a significant proportion of families pay more for their childcare than they pay for their rent or mortgage. As all members who have spoken in the debate have demonstrated, there is an obvious connection, which stares us in the face, between the costs of childcare and leaving or staying in employment. I welcome the work that Save the Children has undertaken and will endeavour to respond to its report, as well as to the concerns that have been raised by members during the debate.

In the little time that I have, I will try very hard to demonstrate what the Government has done, what it will do and what it would like to do.

However, before I continue I would like to make one broad point. In doing so, I do not seek to be controversial or to disrupt the consensus that often—and rightly—exists in members’ business debates, so I will choose my language carefully. If there was ever an issue that best crystallised the arguments for this Parliament having more powers, surely it has to be the need to provide for and support better our children and families. Let me be blunt; without control of taxation and the welfare benefits system, there will be no quick fix to ease the burden on, or the hardship that is faced by, hard-working parents or parents who wish to work. Nonetheless, I believe that we can do much more to ease that burden.

I will touch on welfare reform, which was mentioned by Jamie Hepburn and Malcolm Chisholm among others. The UK Government’s Welfare Reform Bill is substantial and will bring about—if I quote Jackie Baillie correctly from yesterday—“a seismic shift”. The Scottish Government supports benefits simplification and is considering the UK Government’s proposition as to what the universal credit will achieve, but we do not support welfare reform that will impact most greatly on the most vulnerable people. We do not yet know the full extent of the impact of the changes or the effect that there will be on devolved services. Nonetheless, we will continue to engage proactively on the subject with our colleagues at Westminster. Members will also wish to consider the part that they can play in that work. Bob Doris exercised his right to do that tonight.

For the moment we must work within our constraints. Liz Smith touched on an important point in referring to what we have managed to achieve collectively as a Parliament. In essence, we have achieved consensus on the need strategically to prioritise the early years.

I could have run up the back of the chamber and hugged Hugh Henry when—