Chamber
Plenary, 18 May 2000
18 May 2000 · S1 · Plenary
Item of business
Early Education and Child Care
I am grateful for those comments. As the member will appreciate, if anything should be free from party political values, it is this issue. Striving to reach the right solution took me considerably longer than I expected, but we made judgments based on everyone's views, including those of Nicola Sturgeon's party, which has made a significant contribution.
The role of HMI and the commission for the regulation of care was a difficult matter. I was faced with a range of options, such as fully to integrate the commission and to remove HMI from the inspection system altogether. That would mean that nursery education would come under the social care commission. I was very dubious about that, because there is an important educational link between nursery education and the preparation for primary school. Therefore, on balance, I decided that, although it made it slightly more complicated, it would be preferable to retain HMI's presence.
All pre-school education in the local authority, voluntary and private sectors will be inspected each year—at present, that happens only in the private and voluntary sector—by the care commission. HMI inspections currently take place periodically, within every seven years, although that may alter. In the years in which HMI inspections take place, the care commission will not inspect organisations. There will be only one inspection a year. The inspections will be carried out against standard performance indicators. That means that the inspections will be similar each year, although the performance indicators that are used may vary. That is how I tried to square the circle.
The question of nannies raises another difficult issue. However, parents have to take some responsibility. It was very difficult, because everyone said that we should regulate nannies, but not one person was able to tell us how to do it. There are several problems, such as where baby-sitters fit in, whether we should regulate those who are qualified and how we deal with the matter of parents who just want someone with experience of looking after their own family. We have taken steps on the regulation of employment agencies, the code of practice and fit person checks. We also produced the "Need a Nanny?" guide for parents. If Karen Gillon is here, I will give her my copy.
The role of HMI and the commission for the regulation of care was a difficult matter. I was faced with a range of options, such as fully to integrate the commission and to remove HMI from the inspection system altogether. That would mean that nursery education would come under the social care commission. I was very dubious about that, because there is an important educational link between nursery education and the preparation for primary school. Therefore, on balance, I decided that, although it made it slightly more complicated, it would be preferable to retain HMI's presence.
All pre-school education in the local authority, voluntary and private sectors will be inspected each year—at present, that happens only in the private and voluntary sector—by the care commission. HMI inspections currently take place periodically, within every seven years, although that may alter. In the years in which HMI inspections take place, the care commission will not inspect organisations. There will be only one inspection a year. The inspections will be carried out against standard performance indicators. That means that the inspections will be similar each year, although the performance indicators that are used may vary. That is how I tried to square the circle.
The question of nannies raises another difficult issue. However, parents have to take some responsibility. It was very difficult, because everyone said that we should regulate nannies, but not one person was able to tell us how to do it. There are several problems, such as where baby-sitters fit in, whether we should regulate those who are qualified and how we deal with the matter of parents who just want someone with experience of looking after their own family. We have taken steps on the regulation of employment agencies, the code of practice and fit person checks. We also produced the "Need a Nanny?" guide for parents. If Karen Gillon is here, I will give her my copy.
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Sir David Steel):
NPA
We move now to a ministerial statement from Mr Sam Galbraith, who I know is always brief.
The Minister for Children and Education (Mr Sam Galbraith):
Lab
I wish to make a statement on the regulation of early education and child care. In our programme for government, we committed ourselves to promoting a substa...
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Patricia Ferguson):
Lab
The minister will now take questions on issues arising from his statement. I will allow approximately 20 minutes for questions. It will be helpful if any mem...
Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP):
SNP
I thank the minister for his statement and the usual courtesy of providing an advance copy. There is a great deal in the statement that the SNP welcomes. Ind...
Mr Galbraith:
Lab
I am grateful to Ms Sturgeon for her overwhelming welcome of the Executive's statement. She asked about the number of qualified workers. She would be the fir...
Nicola Sturgeon:
SNP
Answer the question.
Mr Galbraith:
Lab
I know that sometimes Nicola Sturgeon does not like the answers that I give, but she should have the courtesy to allow me to give them to her.The working fam...
Nicola Sturgeon:
SNP
Answer the question.
Mr Galbraith:
Lab
As I listened to Ms Sturgeon without interrupting, she should afford me the courtesy of doing the same. From a standing start, in a country in which there ha...
Mr Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con):
Con
I congratulate the minister on his statement. I welcome the level playing field, which puts local authority child care under the same regulation as for other...
Mr Galbraith:
Lab
I am grateful for those comments. As the member will appreciate, if anything should be free from party political values, it is this issue. Striving to reach ...
Dr Richard Simpson (Ochil) (Lab):
Lab
I welcome the minister's statement. For several years, I have been involved in medical approval of childminders and I wonder whether the extension of the reg...
Mr Galbraith:
Lab
As Richard Simpson probably knows, childminders are already regulated and there will be no change in the current position. The question of fit person checks ...
Ian Jenkins (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD):
LD
I, too, welcome the extension of protection and quality assurance in this area of child care. There is a nice balance between a laissez-faire attitude, which...
Mr Galbraith:
Lab
Having considered the bureaucracy, I cannot help but agree with Ian Jenkins that we must stop the overload of initiatives. I thank the member for his comment...
Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP):
SNP
The minister said that the second guiding principle behind his statement today was that regulation must be proportionate to risk. However, in his statement h...
Mr Galbraith:
Lab
I am sorry, but I cannot update Fiona McLeod on that last point. However, I shall make it clear to Jackie Baillie that she should let the member know about t...
The Deputy Presiding Officer:
Lab
Before calling the next member, I ask the minister not to turn away from the microphone when he responds. I know that it is tempting not to speak with one's ...
Mr Galbraith:
Lab
I am very sorry.
Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab):
Lab
I also want to ask the minister about SCRO checks. I have received representations from the organisation Homestart, which is part of the social inclusion par...
Mr Galbraith:
Lab
In deference to you, Presiding Officer, I will not turn round to answer the question.I am grateful for that suggestion, as these issues are important. There ...
Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP):
SNP
The minister talked about"ensuring the employment of suitably qualified teams of staff with an appropriate mix of skills."Will he clarify what he means by "s...
Mr Galbraith:
Lab
Progress has been made on the SVQ award and other measures, to produce the so-called ladder of qualifications. If we are to meet the 5,000 training opportuni...
Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab):
Lab
I thank the minister for his statement and particularly welcome the extension of regulation to all children of primary school age.In the code of practice tha...
Mr Galbraith:
Lab
Those links are very important. One of the great advantages of pre-school education—with every four-year-old and 60 per cent of three-year-olds whose parents...
Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con):
Con
How will the proposals affect the current regulations for foster carers?
Mr Galbraith:
Lab
The situation regarding foster carers is slightly different. Although we will soon be considering consultations on the regulation of foster carers, the curre...
The Deputy Presiding Officer:
Lab
That concludes questions on the minister's statement.
Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP):
SNP
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. This point of order is genuine, as I am very concerned by the way in which statements are brought to the chamber and ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer:
Lab
We will consider that point, and it would be very helpful if the member could drop me a note about it.