Hansard

First, I apologise in advance for having to leave the chamber after my speech in order to attend another meeting.

My colleague Karen Whitefield outlined Labour's position in her contribution. She reminded us that getting it right for every child applies to every youngster in Scotland, including those in early years provision.

I am delighted to take part in the debate because it allows me to return to a topic that I have raised in the chamber before—the free from three campaign run by my constituent Mrs Alexis Stevenson of Kirkintilloch. She came to see me two years ago because she was having a problem getting access to a free nursery place for her son Sam. He was born in the month of September, which meant that he could not access the free funding for a nursery place until the January intake date. When Mrs Stevenson inquired about availability of places she was told that there was no guarantee that there would be a place in January but that she could get one if she paid for a place between September and January. That struck Mrs Stevenson as unfair and she is right—it is unfair. Access to nursery education provided free at three, thanks to a Labour Government, should not depend on what month a child is born in. That is why together we mounted the free from three campaign.

We brought petition PE1116 to the Public Petitions Committee, and it was considered in September last year—I am glad to see the minister nodding in approval. The committee referred the matter to the Government for further consideration. During the consultation we discovered that a number of councils had a free at three policy but had been instructed by the SNP Government to stop pursuing it. Those included Scottish Borders Council, Stirling Council and Shetland Islands Council.

Just in case anybody thinks that the situation does not affect a large number of children, I point out that more than 4,000 youngsters were born in September 2006 and they will celebrate their third birthday this year. Unless their parents have paid for a place they will not currently be getting any nursery education and will not do so until January next year—that is, if they can find a place.

I wrote to Mr Ingram, the Minister for Children and Early Years, to request a meeting. To be fair, he met Mrs Stevenson and me in March this year. It is also fair to say that we were both surprised when Mr Ingram and his officials told us that they were considering two options to improve access. One option would involve introducing an October intake date; the other, and more radical, option would involve three-year-olds gaining funding for free access one month after their third birthday and presumably there being 10 intake dates, missing out the summer months.

Meanwhile, the minister was receiving other letters, including one from Mrs Sheena Nicol, head of St Mary's nursery school in Kirkintilloch, which is one of the most popular in East Dunbartonshire. She wrote to the minister in May:

"I would like to add my voice to the growing discontent with the current structure of Early Years Funding. At the moment the funding starts at the beginning of the term after the child's 3rd birthday for both ante and pre-school children. This can lead to parents being penalised and their choices limited merely due to their child's date of birth.

It is my hope that due consideration will be given to extending the existing funding to begin from a child's 3rd birthday, thereby eliminating the inequality of the current structure.

If granted it would remove the necessity of some parents having to self fund to secure their child's place in nursery."

What has happened since then? Absolutely nothing. Months came and went, and in September—a year after our original appearance before the Public Petitions Committee—I wrote to Mr Ingram again to ask for an update. In his reply, he referred to the 2010-11 draft budget and stated that the options discussed were still on the table, but—and this was a big but—there would need to be re-engagement with local government as it was going to get £174 million less than originally planned.

We know how the SNP has managed to mug local government into paying for a share of the reduction in the health capital budget. It seems that that money will be found at the expense of Scotland's children.

The minister went on to say that the UK Government's proposals to extend free provision to two-year-olds meant that there were complex issues that needed to be resolved.

We have all heard about these famous national conversation events. The minister kindly held one in Bishopbriggs in my constituency last month. Mrs Stevenson went along and asked him for a progress report, but I am afraid that I have to report to Mr Ingram that she was not impressed to be told that the free at three proposal was unlikely to happen in this session of Parliament. It was no so much a conversation as a dialogue with the deaf.

I wrote to the minister again last week to seek clarification and I am waiting for his reply. Perhaps he will be able to enlighten me today in his summing up. Do his proposals have any chance of being implemented—yes or no?

As I said at the beginning, getting it right for every child involves their having access to good quality nursery education—all the experts agree on that. Labour's policy is to guarantee a free place for every three and four-year-old who wants one; places for vulnerable two-year-olds are also in the pipeline. Done properly, that would mean that every child gets six sessions in a nursery, which could make a huge difference when they reach primary school. It is up to the minister and his new cabinet secretary to deliver. The children of Scotland are waiting.