Meeting of the Parliament 22 September 2015
The UK Government’s aspiration might well be for 40 per cent of two-year-olds south of the border to access early learning and childcare, but the most recent figures that I have seen showed that only 13 per cent of two-year-olds there were able to access that provision.
There is also published information that shows that 40 per cent of local authorities in England are not meeting their target. I say to Mr McArthur that that is a typical example of the Liberal Democrats overpromising and underdelivering, which is something that this Government most certainly will not do when it comes to childcare. We are determined to increase the quantity of hours available, but not at the expense of quality—quantity and quality must go hand in hand.
We are taking action to raise the attainment of children in school through the £100 million attainment fund, with £11.7 million of funding made available this year to the seven challenge authorities and a further 57 schools benefiting from the fund this year. That means that more than 300 schools and more than 21 local authorities are now involved.
I make it clear that it was always our intention to extend the fund’s reach beyond the first seven authorities this year. I am all too aware that there are pockets of poverty in every classroom, in every school and in every local authority. The scale of our ambition and reach is to work hard to close the gap wherever it exists in Scotland.