Meeting of the Parliament 28 May 2014
I am not going to take an intervention.
Thanks to research that has been done by SPICe, we know that a 6 per cent rise in the female workforce is equivalent to approximately 104,000 women moving into work. However, in 2011, only 15,000 women of working age with children aged 1 to 5 said that they were looking for work, and 64,000 women were inactive, with the majority of those citing looking after family as the reason for not working. Only 14,000 of those said that they would like to work. Put simply, there are not enough women of working age with children to fulfil the SNP’s childcare plan.
The fact is that the SNP and the Scottish Government could act now to improve the childcare that we offer. Thanks to the UK’s budget and the improving economic conditions, the Scottish Government has the money now to implement in full the same childcare package as England. That would mean that 40 per cent of two-year-olds—rather than the figure that we currently have—would receive free nursery education, from this autumn. I welcome the figure that has been given, but we are not even matching what England is doing.
I agree with parts of the Government’s amendment, especially on the importance of cross-party work on the issue and the value of the partnership commission for childcare reform as part of Children in Scotland’s childcare alliance. However, the SNP has played fast and loose on nursery education for too long. First, it held back on action in order to offer a carrot for independence, and now it exaggerates the numbers in order to make the case for independence.
I understand that SNP members are genuinely passionate about independence, but they must not allow that to emasculate this important area of public policy. The future of our children is more important than their passion for independence.
I am pleased that the Labour Party’s motion acknowledges the continuing importance of the issue, so we will support it today. Education can never be taken away, no matter what happens to a person. A solid education gives people skills to fall back on, and pride in their achievements that cannot be taken away. Education stands alone in that enduring legacy of opportunity.