Chamber
Plenary, 17 Nov 1999
17 Nov 1999 · S1 · Plenary
Item of business
Child Care Strategy
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 services, whether in child welfare or education. My childhood, and that of most members in the chamber, was characterised by corporate things being done to me, rather than things being done with me.
Times are changing, albeit slowly. In the 20 or so years since I left school, our education establishments have become more welcoming places for students, and particularly for parents. Gone are the days when parents were welcomed in school only for the obligatory parents day or evening, or when they were summoned because of a child's difficulty.
It is now 10 years since we ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Although we are a long way from reaching its lofty goals, we have made some progress in recognising children as distinct individuals, and not as appendages or the property of their parents, as they were viewed in the past.
I congratulate the Executive on the way in which it has placed children's services in a clear departmental remit with a Minister for Children and Education. The core of the Executive's child care strategy is improving all-round development of our children through quality day care and early education.
From first-hand experience, I know how important pre-school education is. I was fortunate to be brought up in an area of Scotland that valued education. Fife County Council and its successor authorities have always invested in the area's education services. I was fortunate to get a nursery place way back in 1966. Over 30 years later, almost every four-year-old, and soon all three-year-olds, will have that same opportunity. I am conscious of the good start to education that pre-school education gave me. It allowed me, an ordinary kid from a working-class background, to be the first in my extended family to go to university. I hope that other people will have that opportunity.
Other members have spoken, or will speak, on other initiatives which, taken together, provide the bedrock of the Executive's child care strategy, such as early intervention, including playgroups and sure start, the working families tax credit and the provision of affordable child care. However, I want to address an area of child care that often is relegated to the position of a cinderella service: that of looked-after children, and in particular, support to vulnerable families.
If we are serious about ensuring that all our children have the same opportunities from the extra resources that are being ploughed into education, it is vital that they are all in a position to
benefit from them. To that end, it is important that we ensure that support to vulnerable families is high up on the agendas of the Executive and local authorities.
When developing services for children, and in particular when developing children's services plans, local authorities must ensure that comprehensive services are developed that meet the needs of children and their families. A social services inspectorate report from down south that was published in March this year identified that the key to getting family support services right was offering services that are flexible, sensitive and constitute an effective response.
The report also stated:
"Family centres offered an increasingly wide range of innovative services. They made good use of scarce resources, and parents particularly valued outreach work, parenting skills training and support groups."
From my experience of more than 15 years working in statutory child care social work, the same is true for Scotland. Families with pre-school children require all the help that they need, to ensure that children have every opportunity to maximise their potential.
The Executive's child care strategy is welcome. It is making real differences for a lot of our children. However, we must make extra efforts to ensure that support for vulnerable families, children in need and, of course, looked-after children, is better co-ordinated and improved.
I know of the minister's interest in, and commitment to, looked-after children. I look forward to a debate on that topic in the near future, so that we can improve the services to our most disadvantaged youngsters.
Times are changing, albeit slowly. In the 20 or so years since I left school, our education establishments have become more welcoming places for students, and particularly for parents. Gone are the days when parents were welcomed in school only for the obligatory parents day or evening, or when they were summoned because of a child's difficulty.
It is now 10 years since we ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Although we are a long way from reaching its lofty goals, we have made some progress in recognising children as distinct individuals, and not as appendages or the property of their parents, as they were viewed in the past.
I congratulate the Executive on the way in which it has placed children's services in a clear departmental remit with a Minister for Children and Education. The core of the Executive's child care strategy is improving all-round development of our children through quality day care and early education.
From first-hand experience, I know how important pre-school education is. I was fortunate to be brought up in an area of Scotland that valued education. Fife County Council and its successor authorities have always invested in the area's education services. I was fortunate to get a nursery place way back in 1966. Over 30 years later, almost every four-year-old, and soon all three-year-olds, will have that same opportunity. I am conscious of the good start to education that pre-school education gave me. It allowed me, an ordinary kid from a working-class background, to be the first in my extended family to go to university. I hope that other people will have that opportunity.
Other members have spoken, or will speak, on other initiatives which, taken together, provide the bedrock of the Executive's child care strategy, such as early intervention, including playgroups and sure start, the working families tax credit and the provision of affordable child care. However, I want to address an area of child care that often is relegated to the position of a cinderella service: that of looked-after children, and in particular, support to vulnerable families.
If we are serious about ensuring that all our children have the same opportunities from the extra resources that are being ploughed into education, it is vital that they are all in a position to
benefit from them. To that end, it is important that we ensure that support to vulnerable families is high up on the agendas of the Executive and local authorities.
When developing services for children, and in particular when developing children's services plans, local authorities must ensure that comprehensive services are developed that meet the needs of children and their families. A social services inspectorate report from down south that was published in March this year identified that the key to getting family support services right was offering services that are flexible, sensitive and constitute an effective response.
The report also stated:
"Family centres offered an increasingly wide range of innovative services. They made good use of scarce resources, and parents particularly valued outreach work, parenting skills training and support groups."
From my experience of more than 15 years working in statutory child care social work, the same is true for Scotland. Families with pre-school children require all the help that they need, to ensure that children have every opportunity to maximise their potential.
The Executive's child care strategy is welcome. It is making real differences for a lot of our children. However, we must make extra efforts to ensure that support for vulnerable families, children in need and, of course, looked-after children, is better co-ordinated and improved.
I know of the minister's interest in, and commitment to, looked-after children. I look forward to a debate on that topic in the near future, so that we can improve the services to our most disadvantaged youngsters.
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...