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Plenary, 17 Nov 1999

17 Nov 1999 · S1 · Plenary

Item of business

Child Care Strategy

Smith, Elaine Lab Coatbridge and Chryston Watch on SPTV

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 accessible child care. I have a particular interest in the issue, not only as a member of the Parliament, but as a mother and a long-time advocate of the need for universal child care provision.

I warmly welcome the substantial increase in funding that has been allocated to councils to help to develop local child care strategies. That funding will ensure that the provision of play groups, out- of-school places and trained child mentors in every neighbourhood will become a reality for parents. Together with initiatives that have been undertaken by Westminster, the Scottish Executive has implemented measures to reassure parents that they will be able to work and pay for child care, and to ease parental worry about the quality of the child care that is provided.

Child care is a multi-faceted, multi-agency issue, but today I want to highlight one aspect. The introduction to the Government's green paper, "Meeting the Childcare Challenge", states:

"Childcare should be fun for children."

Sam Galbraith earlier mentioned that child care should provide stimulating play opportunities. That concept has been developed successfully by a group of parents in my constituency, through the safe play agenda.

Kirkshaws is an area that is afflicted by high unemployment and deprivation. It is, thankfully, also blessed with dedicated and determined parents. Struck by the apparent connections between young people involving themselves, at an early age, in drink, drugs and vandalism and the lack of local facilities for play and leisure pursuits, those parents formed Parents Action for Safe Play in Kirkshaws. In their own words, they

"battled, negotiated and built partnerships"

to transform a local site into a multi-purpose play area that caters for young people from toddlers to teenagers. Those parents continue to pursue the provision of out-of-school leisure activities for all children, and their achievements are hailed as a model for others.

Safe play, as an integral part of the child care agenda, also requires a multi-departmental approach and, in education, an ethos that supports playtime as a learning mode for all, and which encourages play activities outwith school time and school structures. In acknowledging the health benefits of children at play, we can attempt to combat issues such as the growing incidence of symptoms of heart disease in our teenagers. In housing, we should provide regulations to complement existing guidelines on the provision of play areas, in planning consents for new developments. Added to that, I would call on private developers to accept the responsibility, as parents and members of our communities, of making such provision regardless of profit margins. In training and enterprise, we can do much to promote recognised and valued qualifications and employment opportunities, as well as new qualifications. That would benefit not only our children at play, but our adults at work.

The importance of play for our children, in expanding their social skills, fine-tuning their creativity, providing intellectual stimulation and improving their emotional and physical well-being, is a crucial ingredient in their human growth and development. After all, the happy and confident children of today will be Scotland's well-balanced, self-assured adults of tomorrow. It is our duty to our children to create an environment that will allow them to play at their leisure. We also have a duty to provide easy and affordable access to play areas, to make our roads safer in built-up areas, and—most important—to create the conditions in which children and their parents are free from the social, economic and educational pressures that restrict their ability to play.

Our children need and deserve the opportunity, the time and the space to play. I commend the Government on its commitment to the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. I call on the Executive to commit itself to recognising and promoting the right of the child to engage in safe play and recreational activities, as an important aspect of the child care agenda.

I look forward to the additional initiatives that will be pursued in partnership with local authorities, and I welcome the commitment of the Executive to our children's future and the future of Scotland.

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Plenary, 17 Nov 1999

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