Meeting of the Parliament 28 February 2018
I have two points to make in response to that. If the minister, having read about the issue, feels that there are real issues south of the border, that should serve as a learning curve for her in relation to what to do.
It is an interesting point, because the 1,140 hours are being rolled out. At the moment, parents in England are accessing the 1,140 hours, and the complaint is not about their ability to access that provision. I think that there is learning to be had, both negative and positive, but that does not immediately address the issues that I have raised, and the question was not one that was pertinent to what I said.
The Accounts Commission has added that many councils’ expansion plans do not include detailed information on how they plan to recruit all those additional staff. Often, the plans do not take account of the numbers of staff required by partner providers, and I wonder whether that may account for some of the differences that we are seeing between the Government numbers and the numbers that are coming forward from local councils.
There are many other issues that I am sure will be raised today, but my key point in all of this is that we have to do right by our children and by our parents. We will do right by our children only if we have high-quality provision. We know, and evidence shows us, that poor quality provision will do more harm and will actually lessen the life chances of children, particularly our more vulnerable children. We cannot have high-quality provision unless we have good-quality staff, which means that we need to roll out provision that is staffed by people who themselves have good-quality learning, good qualifications and experience. I worry that, in the rush, there will not be time to develop those staff adequately, so many of our initial children will suffer from a poorer quality of provision than we intend to give them.
I move,
That the Parliament recognises the strong cross-party support for the expansion of childcare, but expresses its grave concern regarding the findings of the recent Accounts Commission report, Early Learning and Childcare, which stated that there were “significant risks” that local authorities would not be in a position to deliver the Scottish Government’s target of 1,140 hours by 2020 because of the difference in estimated budget costs and additional pressures on staffing and additional infrastructure; notes the concerns expressed by the commission that the Scottish Government failed to undertake the necessary cost-benefit analysis of the 600 hours provision, therefore failing to assess the impact on parents and providers of expanded childcare provision, particularly in terms of eligibility and the accessibility and flexibility of provision, and demands that the Scottish Government takes immediate action to address the concerns of the Accounts Commission and to engage constructively with groups, such as Fair Funding for our Kids, the National Day Nurseries Association Scotland and local authorities, to agree a comprehensive strategy that will deliver quality provision across Scotland.