Chamber
Plenary, 17 Nov 1999
17 Nov 1999 · S1 · Plenary
Item of business
Child Care Strategy
I am pleased to welcome what the minister said. I see that that brings a smile to his face. I hope that he will still be smiling at the end of my short contribution.
It is appropriate that we discuss this subject as we celebrate the anniversary of the signing of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child by the Conservative Government in 1991. In 1992, we followed that by signing up to the European Union recommendation on child care.
I am always pleased to hear new announcements on spending from the Government, as it gives us a chance to work out whether the money is new, reheated or recycled. I am willing at this stage to take the minister's word that this is indeed new money and not the previously announced £91 million being carved up and recycled. New money is needed for some important aspects of child care.
In a sense, this strategy has been in its embryonic stage since May 1998. Much has been said about the strategy since then. I noticed that Nicola Sturgeon was handing out credit, but she omitted to mention the fact that credit for much of what we now have should go to the previous Conservative Government. I was disappointed, given that she was trying to be so nice to everyone.
Let me remind the chamber that it was the introduction of nursery vouchers by the Conservative Government that ensured a real political debate on this issue. Some parties are, of course, against nursery vouchers, but it was their introduction that ensured that other parties, not least the party that is now in power, had to find a response. There was nursery provision, but it was patchy. Nursery provision was good under Lothian Regional Council, for example, but provision was not of the same standard everywhere. Nursery vouchers ensured that parents could exercise choice—between provision by the local authority and, where such provision did not exist, by the
voluntary and private sectors.
It is appropriate that we discuss this subject as we celebrate the anniversary of the signing of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child by the Conservative Government in 1991. In 1992, we followed that by signing up to the European Union recommendation on child care.
I am always pleased to hear new announcements on spending from the Government, as it gives us a chance to work out whether the money is new, reheated or recycled. I am willing at this stage to take the minister's word that this is indeed new money and not the previously announced £91 million being carved up and recycled. New money is needed for some important aspects of child care.
In a sense, this strategy has been in its embryonic stage since May 1998. Much has been said about the strategy since then. I noticed that Nicola Sturgeon was handing out credit, but she omitted to mention the fact that credit for much of what we now have should go to the previous Conservative Government. I was disappointed, given that she was trying to be so nice to everyone.
Let me remind the chamber that it was the introduction of nursery vouchers by the Conservative Government that ensured a real political debate on this issue. Some parties are, of course, against nursery vouchers, but it was their introduction that ensured that other parties, not least the party that is now in power, had to find a response. There was nursery provision, but it was patchy. Nursery provision was good under Lothian Regional Council, for example, but provision was not of the same standard everywhere. Nursery vouchers ensured that parents could exercise choice—between provision by the local authority and, where such provision did not exist, by the
voluntary and private sectors.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Patricia Ferguson):
Lab
The next item of business is a debate on motion S1M-285 in the name of Mr Sam Galbraith, on the Scottish Executive's child care strategy for Scotland, and an...
The Minister for Children and Education (Mr Sam Galbraith):
Lab
Thank you, Presiding Officer.I hope that we will not find too much difference among the parties in this debate; that is reflected in the amendment lodged by ...
Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP):
SNP
I welcome this afternoon's debate on the Scottish Executive's child care strategy for Scotland. The child care strategy is one of many policies that has been...
Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con):
Con
Will the member give way?
Nicola Sturgeon:
SNP
Not just now; let me get into my stride. Early education and child care should not be a political battleground. We have a shared interest in securing for eve...
Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab):
Lab
I welcome the tone of Nicola Sturgeon's speech and I thank her for visiting my constituency this morning. Does she realise that, as part of the national chil...
Nicola Sturgeon:
SNP
The child care tax credit is certainly a step in the right direction and some of my colleagues will mention it, but there are loopholes and weaknesses in it....
Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con):
Con
I am pleased to welcome what the minister said. I see that that brings a smile to his face. I hope that he will still be smiling at the end of my short contr...
Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP):
SNP
Will the member give way?
Mr Monteith:
Con
I thought that no one was going to ask. I have been waiting for an intervention—I even wrote "intervention" on my notes—so I am glad that Fiona Hyslop has ob...
Fiona Hyslop:
SNP
The subject of free education is topical at the moment, given the issue of tuition fees. Does the Conservative education spokesperson believe in free educati...
Mr Monteith:
Con
No. The Conservatives do not believe in universal provision of free education for three and four-year-olds. However, we recognise that there must be some sta...
Malcolm Chisholm:
Lab
Will the member give way?
Mr Monteith:
Con
I am practically out of time, but I will give way if the intervention is relevant to my previous point.
Malcolm Chisholm:
Lab
Given that after-school clubs will be supported mainly by the child care tax credit element of the working families tax credit, how will the Conservatives' p...
Mr Monteith:
Con
As is quite clear, we intend to ensure that funding is made available for such clubs. We do not intend to introduce a system that brings in more means testin...
Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD):
LD
It is my pleasure, and my party's pleasure, to support warmly Sam Galbraith's motion. The great thing about coming fourth in the opening speeches is that one...
Mr Stone:
LD
I see the deputy minister nodding. There has been a worryingly high turnover of staff up to now, and we must fine-tune that issue. The minister has drawn the...
Mrs Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab):
Lab
I welcome today's announcements. Any child care strategy should be developed in the way that this strategy has been—with much input from many people. Althoug...
Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP):
SNP
Immediately before I became an MSP, I worked for Angus Council, helping to implement the child care strategy. Like most practitioners, I welcomed the fact th...
Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab):
Lab
There is nothing complacent about the Executive's motion, and I am sure that the Scottish National party amendment would have been accepted had it not implie...
Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP):
SNP
I thank Malcolm Chisholm for his contribution, even though he said about a quarter of the things that I wanted to say in my speech. The Scottish National par...
Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab):
Lab
I am grateful to have the opportunity to speak in the debate. Like others, I commend the Executive for pursuing the strategy of good- quality, affordable and...
Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con):
Con
As a parent who depended very much on the good will of my own family, my in-laws and friends, I welcome the child care strategy. There is no doubt that a mor...
Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab):
Lab
I welcome the opportunity to debate the child care strategy for Scotland. For too long children have been seen as little more than passive recipients of serv...
Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP):
SNP
I will talk briefly about the qualifications of child care workers, and also about a more integrated approach that includes social inclusion partnerships as ...
Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD):
LD
I would like to congratulate the Executive on the progress that it has made on child care. The issue is widely supported across the parties and the Executive...
Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab):
Lab
I warmly welcome the Minister for Children and Education's statement. The new allocation for child care represents something in the order of a 140 per cent i...
Mr Monteith:
Con
I point out to Helen Eadie that, in the first year after the voucher scheme was introduced, 63,467 children attended some form of pre-school education. Only ...
Helen Eadie:
Lab
At the general election, I was a candidate in Roxburgh and Berwickshire, where I worked for 18 months to two years. I know that there was great hostility the...