Meeting of the Parliament 27 May 2026 [Draft]
I was going to come to that later, but I will address it now. I will talk about some of the work that we have been doing in our priority communities. We have been working with our six priority families and testing the roll-out of childcare as it is needed in different circumstances, whether that is communities that are affected by poverty or children who have disabilities. We have been taking forward that work and it will inform the expansion of childcare.
To give members the details, although I am sure that they are acquainted with them, I should say that we want, by the end of this parliamentary session, to provide the choice of childcare support for every child in the country from nine months old to the end of primary school. Importantly, the support is to be provided for 52 weeks a year and will be designed to fit around families, rather than families being expected to fit around the system. I must say that it is a substantial project that will take a team Scotland approach.
On the note of working together, I was really pleased to see that the importance of early learning and childcare featured in most of the parties’ election manifestos. I hear the concerns from Green colleagues about cross-border placements and the variation in funded ELC eligibility dates when a child turns three. I commit to working on those issues as we develop the expanded offer.
As my colleagues have stated, and as I maintain, the statutory guidance is clear that, whenever possible, families who access cross-border placements should be treated on the same basis as families who access local provision. I am sympathetic to the issue of when a three-year-old begins to receive the childcare, although we must take into account practical issues. For example, how manageable would it be for staff to have an intake every week or every day? Those are practical considerations, and I will work with the Greens and COSLA on such issues. On that basis, we will support the Green amendment.
We will also support Labour’s amendment, and I look forward to hearing Labour members’ contributions.
I note the Liberal Democrats’ desire for a focus on support for working families only. I understand the reasons behind that, and I want to work with them to better understand what they are looking to achieve. However, first, we cannot fail to understand the importance of childcare to finding and sustaining work. Secondly, it is important that we do not have a system that denies children whose parents are not working the important early learning opportunities that are provided, particularly if those might be the children who could benefit most from them. I say that as an early point of principle, but I look forward to working with the Lib Dems on such issues.
As I have said to a number of members, as we develop the provision, we will draw on the successes of the 1,140 hours policy and be clear on the opportunities for improvement.