Meeting of the Parliament 03 June 2015
That may well be the case, but the concept of vouchers for public services could be a slippery slope. More discussion is necessary. It is certainly not an idea that we are supporting today.
We will abstain on Fiona McLeod’s amendment on the basis that we do not accept that the 600 hours policy is fully funded. Local authorities tell us that they do not have the resources to deliver it fully, for the reasons that Liz Smith outlined earlier. We are also sceptical about the claim that more women with three and four-year-olds are re-entering the labour market thanks to the policy of providing three hours of childcare a day. I do not know of many jobs that fit around a nursery place of three hours and 10 minutes.
Our amendment highlights the observation in the commission for childcare reform’s interim report that the focus on three and four-year-olds
“has not been matched by coordinated investment in ... the needs of working families for pre-school childcare, out of school care and holiday provision.”
Although we rightly call on the Scottish Government to take steps now to ensure that 600 hours of provision is a reality for every eligible child, we know that that will not fix the childcare challenges that Scotland faces. Those challenges do not begin when a child turns three and they do not end when a child starts school. The spiralling cost of childcare in Scotland is a huge headache for working parents.
Unfortunately, I have run out of time, because of all the interventions that I have taken. I will conclude by citing the view of the fair funding for our kids campaign, which says that no one has a grip on childcare policy. The promise of 30 hours of provision in the future would sound a lot more convincing to parents if they were receiving the 15 hours to which they are entitled now. We must ensure that parents right across Scotland get a better deal.
I move amendment S4M-13312.2, to leave out from “notes” to end and insert:
“welcomes that, under the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014, all children aged three and four are now legally entitled to receive 600 hours of free early learning and childcare a year, more than under any previous administration; notes that local authorities have received £329 million in new money to fund implementation of this groundbreaking policy; further notes that local authorities are developing plans to engage with parents and families to ensure that the design and delivery of provision is flexible enough to meet families’ needs; welcomes that this unprecedented investment in early learning and childcare enables more parents, and in particular women, to return to work, as evidenced by Scotland now having the lowest rate of female unemployment of any country in Europe; condemns the UK Government’s proposals to only increase provision in England for parents who work, excluding those who need help most, and supports proposals to extend universal, free early learning and childcare in Scotland to 30 hours per week for the school year by the end of the next parliamentary session.”
Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.
- S4M-13312.2 Nursery Vouchers Motion