Meeting of the Parliament 03 June 2015
The result of the division is: For 63, Against 19, Abstentions 33.
Motion, as amended, agreed to,
That the Parliament 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.