 I'm delighted to update Parliament this afternoon on the agreement that this Government has reached with COSLA leaders to fully fund the expansion of early learning and childcare entitlement to 1140 hours from August 2020. This landmark agreement is the culmination of more than two years of hard work by the Scottish Government and local authorities to establish a robust shared understanding of the costs attached to the expansion. It's evidence of real partnership working to deliver a shared ambition and to give all of our children the best start in life. Responding to the agreement on behalf of COSLA, councillor Gail MacGregor, who joined me for a fantastic visit to Cameron House Nursery in Edinburgh this morning, said that local government is fully committed to early learning and childcare expansion to 1140 hours. COSLA and Scotland's council leaders are fully behind the policy. The agreement by council leaders in agreeing the multi-year funding deal is a culmination of months of hard work, negotiation and real partnership working behind the scenes. We needed to get this policy right from the start, together with the level of funding, and I think that we've achieved this by working together. Under this agreement, the Scottish Government is committed to providing local authorities with revenue funding of an additional £567 million per year by 2021-22, the first full financial year of the expansion. That will bring annual public spend on early learning and childcare to £990 million. In addition, the Scottish Government is committed to providing local authorities with total capital funding of £476 million over four years to support buildings projects to create new indoor and outdoor capacity to deliver the expansion. Those funding allocations will, of course, be subject to parliamentary approval of the Scottish budget for the respective years, but I hope that members across the chamber can support this truly transformative investment in Scotland's children. The agreed funding package is the product of extensive work by the Scottish Government and the local authorities to prepare robust cost estimates for the expansion. Local authorities submitted their initial expansion plans to the Scottish Government in September 2017. Following a period of engagement, dialogue, challenge and refinement, building on the learning from an initial review of expansion plans, local authorities submitted refreshed financial estimates in March 2018. It sees March 2018 estimates that form the basis of the package agreed on Friday. I am grateful to all those people in local authorities who work tirelessly behind the scenes to prepare estimates and to refine plans. Scottish ministers and cost leaders considered the robustness of those estimates, and through negotiation we reached agreement on adjustments to be made to revenue and capital initial estimates in order to arrive at reasonable and evidence-based funding national totals. I am confident that the joint review process and the compromises made by both parties will deliver value for money. The agreed revenue funding package is the product of an intense period of local authorities' refining demand and supply estimates and associated service delivery models, which have combined to reduce local authority estimates of the workforce requirements of the expansion. The funding package ensures that a sustainable early rate will be paid to funding providers across Scotland, delivering the funded entitlement to early learning and childcare. In this landmark deal, not only secures sustainable funding for local authorities, but also for early learning and childcare providers across the private and third sectors, including childminders, is a critical component of our new funding that follows the child model. In particular, that bears out our commitment to provide sufficient funding to ensure that all childcare workers delivering the funded entitlement will be paid at least the Scottish living wage from 2020. We recognise the valuable role that our early years practitioners play in shaping our children's developments, and I am proud that the funding package recognises that. One of the most significant ways in which the expansion will contribute to closing the poverty related attainment gap is through increasing the uptake of entitlement for eligible two-year-olds. We know that there is scope to improve on existing levels of uptake so that more children and families can benefit from the offer. The levels of revenue funding that is agreed with COSLA are sufficient to deliver a near doubling of uptake among eligible two-year-olds to 64 per cent. I very warmly welcome local authorities' commitment to put resources in place, to work with families, to raise awareness of the entitlement and to help families to access those services. We recognise that the funding package that was agreed last week represents our collective best estimate of the costs arising from the expansion at this point of time. It is therefore incumbent upon all of us to continue to keep those estimates under review to ensure that we maximise the value for Scotland's children and families from that investment. The Scottish Government and COSLA have agreed to put in place proportionate annual review arrangements to provide assurance to all parties that the funding package reflects the costs of delivery and the actual uptake of the offer. The annual review will provide us with an evidence base to consider whether that policy is fully funded and to take action if it appears to be over or underfunded. The expansion planning process that we undertook with local authorities was underpinned by a primary planning principle that authorities should make best use of existing resources, then consider purchasing capacity from the private and third sectors, and then, finally, if there was no alternative, build new capacity. Local authorities have applied that principle in deriving their capital requirements for the expansion. In order to promote equity and fairness, the funding provided to local authorities, we agreed with COSLA leaders to apply standard reference rates to local authority capital cost estimates. Those reference rates reflect and acknowledge the impact of rurality. Once those reference rates have been applied, the multi-year capital funding requirement for the expansion is £476 million, which will be distributed over four financial years from 2017 to 2018 to 2020 to 2021. That investment will deliver around 900 capital investment projects across Scotland, including more than 100 new nursery facilities. I was personally delighted to see that authorities are planning to make significant use of outdoor facilities as part of their expansion plans, enriching the early learning and childcare experience for our children. As I outlined to Parliament in March, such ambitious plans always come with challenges. I have never denied that those challenges exist, and I am absolutely committed to addressing them in partnership with local authorities and other delivery partners. One of those challenges was reaching agreement on a funding package, and I am delighted that we have, indeed, risen to and resolved that challenge. That has been made possible by genuine partnership working with our colleagues in local government. Agreement of the funding package is a critical milestone in the delivery of the expansion of early learning and childcare entitlement by 2020. It marks the commencement of a delivery phase, and local authorities will now be able to progress their local expansion plans without delay. I am in no doubt that expanding the provision of funded early learning and childcare is the right policy to give all our children the best start in life. We must never forget that the fundamental purpose of the expansion is to improve our children's early years experience and equip them for a lifelong learning journey. By fully funding that commitment, we will ensure that all children receive high-quality early learning and childcare in the public, private and third sectors. I commend the landmark funding agreement to the Parliament. The minister will now take questions. I am conscious that the topical questions overran, so unless the questions and answers are suitably succinct, the last couple of questioners may not get in just early warning. Michelle Ballantyne to be followed by Ian Gray. Can I first thank the minister for advance sight of her statement and welcome the fact that you have worked in partnership with COSLA to achieve this funding agreement? I just want to ask three questions, three areas that have jumped out at me. First of all, you make reference in the statement to your new funding follows the child model, so can the minister advise when their child account will be implemented? Secondly, I note that you also refer twice in fact to a sustainable hourly rate that will be paid to funders delivering the funded entitlement. I would like clarification as to whether this will enable all ELC staff to be paid the living wage so that we do not end up with inequality across the profession. Thirdly, can you just tell me what controls, if any, will the Government put in place to ensure that the capital allocation benefits the nursery provision across the sector and we do not just see local authority expanding their provision? Thank you, Michelle Ballantyne, for those questions. On the first point that you raised, the funding follows the child. We have given a commitment to exploring a way of delivering that. We are absolutely determined that flexibility will be a cornerstone of the policy and that it must work for families if we are to achieve the goals. We are exploring that at the moment. By 2020, we will have a funding follows the child model. On the agreement with local authorities on funding for living wage entitlement, we have absolutely underpinned all that with a national quality standard. For funded entitlement, to achieve funded entitlement, people have to meet certain standards. One of those standards is that those who are delivering 1140 hours will be paying the living wage. As you know, that is part of our commitment going forward and that is certainly part of the agreement that we have struck with COSLA. In terms of the agreement in capital expenditure, this is our agreement with COSLA and they have looked very closely at their local requirements and what is required to be spent on capital expenditure. We have agreed to fully fund it. It is a day for celebration. Iain Gray is to be followed by Rona Mackay. Thank you and my thanks to the minister for early sight of her statement. When the Auditor General recently reported on the expansion of early years and childcare, she sounded a note of concern over the gap between local authorities' identified funding needs and what the Government was then making available. We welcome the fact that the Government have accepted that that initial proposal fell short and have moved very significantly towards the council's identified revenue funding needs. However, the Auditor General was also clear that the funding will not deliver the policy unless we can find, recruit and train the required staffing numbers. Given the funding announcements, can the minister now tell us how many early years workers currently work in the sector and what she expects that number to be by 2021 and how that increase will be achieved through that funding? Yes, I can. I can tell you that in December 2016, there were 33,430 people working in Scotland's day care sector. There are another approximately 6,000 people working as childminders. We have in place, as you know, a very robust recruitment programme. We have provided extra places at college. We have provided extra apprenticeship places. We have provided extra university places. We are absolutely confident that we will deliver the extra workforce that is required. As you know, we have already had a recruitment drive that aims to recruit school leavers. We are about to go into a phase of a recruitment drive that aims to attract career changers and parents returning to work. We fully expect to deliver the workforce that is required for that expansion. Rona Mackay is followed by Liz Smith. Can the minister outline how the Government intends to improve retention rates in the early learning and childcare sector, which would allow for consistent contact time between children and practitioners? We recognise the importance of consistent relationships in early years. One of the things is that there are a number of ways that we are intending to improve recruitment and retention. One of them is, of course, delivering the living wage. Another one is the quality action plan, which outlines investment in on-going training. We are determined that that will be an attractive career. It is a real opportunity for people to do work every day that makes a difference in an environment with passionate, knowledgeable people who are excited about the future. It is a real opportunity for people to consider a change in direction for their careers or to consider a career in early learning and childcare that they might not have considered before. Liz Smith, to be full by Mary Fee. The Audit Scotland report was very critical of the Scottish Government for the lack of baseline data that was available to measure the comparative outcomes of targeting different priorities within childcare spending. Besides the helpful costings being made available today, what evidence has the Scottish Government identified to address those concerns and ensure that Parliament is able to see which areas of spending are delivering the best results? It is widely acknowledged around the world, including by the OECD, that provision of universally accessible and high-quality early learning and childcare helps to provide children with the skills and the confidence that they need in education. Some studies have shown that it is a cornerstone for closing the poverty-related attainment gap. Some of the studies have shown that the benefits are even greater for people in disadvantaged backgrounds. That is why we are investing more money to almost double the eligible two-year-olds. We have also asked local authorities to phase in in the areas that need it most first. Undoubtedly, you will have heard in my statement that we are building in regular checks of how money is being spent, regular checks that the money is being spent in order to deliver what we have asked them to deliver. We are confident that this system will be robust. Mary Fee is followed by James Dornan. I thank the minister for advance sight of her statement. There is a £214 million difference between what the Scottish Government has committed in capital funding and the £690 million that councils said that they need. Can the minister confirm how that disparity will be met? Can she assure the chamber that local authorities will not have to find money from core budgets to provide the infrastructure needed? We have an agreed funding package here today. This is precisely what local authorities have come to a shared agreement with the Government. We are not imposing this. We are not imposing this financial settlement on our local authority partners. Those are figures that we have come to a shared agreement about. We have a shared vision for early years in childcare, and we are working hard to deliver that together. I suggest that the cabinet secretary does not answer questions unless he has given a statement. I am delighted with the minister's statement. I look forward to seeing the expansion of early learning in childcare entitlement that comes into being. The minister will be aware that the Education and Skills Committee has been taking evidence in the impact of poverty on attainment. Just this morning, we saw somebody innovative in encouraging work being done in five schools. Of course, there is still a great deal to do hence the expansion. Can the minister outline what impact she expects the expansion of early learning in childcare to have in terms of closing that stubborn attainment gap that we all want to close? Mr Dornan gets right to the nub of the issue. At the heart of the expansion is delivering quality early years childcare, which will transform the lives of the children of Scotland. We want Scotland to be the best place in the world to grow up. We want every child to flourish and fulfil their potential. I mentioned before the OECD studies worldwide, which show how the offering can tackle the attainment gap before it even occurs. You will have heard me mention that we are aiming to increase the uptake in eligible two-year-olds, and that is a vital part of how we aim to close the attainment gap. You will also be interested to hear that this morning, just this morning, when I went to visit Cameron House Nursery, I met a really knowledgeable and passionate headteacher, Chris McCormack, with years of experience in early years who said very loudly and clearly the difference that she could see. They are already delivering 1140 hours. They have been for a number of years. She can see, and she and her staff were absolutely astonished to see already the difference that she is making to the children who are coming through their nursery. Alison Johnstone, to be followed by Tavish Scott. Thank you. The minister referred to the effort that she is making to almost double the uptake of the eligible two-year-old offer. That is welcome, but what has been done to identify why take-up has been so low and to tell Parliament how she envisages raising awareness off the offer. Will that raising awareness, for example, be made part of the family financial health check and the Scottish Government's income maximisation strategy? Certainly, we are looking at all options to raise awareness. You will be well aware that I wrote to the UK Government at some time ago to ask whether it was going to alter the regulation in Parliament, which would enable us to share data with local authorities, between the DWP and local authorities, as they do in England and Wales. I have not yet had a commitment on a timescale on that. That would make a big difference. In the meantime, we recognise that word of mouth is one of the strongest ways to ensure that everyone who needs the support is aware of the support. Many of the nurseries that I visit, word of mouth, are the main ways that people find out about it. We are also going to increase awareness in job centres. We are going to increase awareness among health visiting staff. The local authorities will be working very hard in their local communities to establish what the best means of communication are in their areas, but that is something that we are absolutely determined to improve. If the Government now knows how many staff working across Scotland are working in childcare, how many extra staff will be needed from today's 1 May 2018 to deliver this childcare expansion? We now estimate that up to 11,000 additional early learning and childcare workers will be required by 2020 in order to deliver the expansion. We have already, as I said, increased capacity courses in colleges and universities, 650 additional HNCs, 350 additional graduate places and, as well as providing local authorities with an additional £21 million for expanding and training their workforce. We are working with the Scottish Funding Council to offer 1,700 additional places on a one-year HNC course in 2018-19 and over 400 additional graduate places. Clare Hockey is to be followed by Oliver Mundell. Firm that local authorities phasing in increased entitlement will prioritise the children and families who would benefit most from the expansion. I have already said that, at the core of the expansion, our aim is to close the attainment gap. Studies around the world have shown us that the increase in childcare in early years will help us to do that. Those studies have also shown us that the biggest difference could be made to the people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds. That is why we are so keen to improve the uptake amongst eligible two years old. That is why, in the phasing of this policy, we have already asked the committee to put plans in place by local authorities to use a reference to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation or an equivalent measure to ensure that the children who need this the most will benefit from it first. Can I ask the minister what practical impact the agreement will have on the PVI sector, particularly when it comes to the allocation of capital funding? I want to know how that will help them to expand provision and increase flexibility, particularly in rural areas like my own. I look forward to meeting you and your constituents immediately after that statement in order to discuss that particular issue. The capital spending that has been agreed with local authorities is best placed to understand the needs in their local community and what is required to deliver that policy. I am absolutely sure that they share the vision that we do in terms of making a difference to those children. They share the vision that we do in terms of a flexible provision, and they have absolutely accounted for what needs to go to local nurseries to do that. Stuart McMillan will be filled by Johann Lamont. Can I ask the minister what actions are available to the Scottish Government if local authorities do not fulfil their commitments to deliver the infrastructure and staff that is required in addition to utilising local childminders? The funding will be allocated to local authorities as a specific grant in order to ensure that it is protected for investment in early learning and childcare. The authorities will be required to report to the Scottish Government on how that funding is being applied. I cannot emphasise this enough in the chamber, but there is a clear commitment from our colleagues in local government as to the aims and delivery of the policy. We have a shared vision and a shared agreement, and we are keen to move forward today. Johann Lamont will be filled by Fulton MacGregor. In relation to the question of shared visions, the minister will be aware that parents in Glasgow are facing a doubling of their childcare charges, and families right now are making decisions to cut the number of hours that their children are accessing, not expanding them. Is it the case, could it be the case, that the costs to families are being increased so massively to cover the gap in funding from the Scottish Government, or, if not that, how does the minister explain Glasgow's decision and how does that decision her families right now work in with her and our shared commitment to expanding childcare? We have just reached agreement today to fully fund an incredible expansion in early years in childcare, which will transform early years for our children and for our families and make an incredible difference to every family in the land, a saving of approximately four and a half thousand per child for each family in the land, as well as providing living wage jobs up and down the country. We are also providing incredible quality offering in terms of early education, which will transform the outcomes for those children from the poorest backgrounds. It is absolutely for local authorities to make decisions on how much they charge for their wraparound care. It is not for me in central government to overrule or impose my view on local authorities. Local authorities know absolutely best what their local needs are and are accountable to their local communities. I am quite sure that they are best placed to make those decisions. Can the minister outline what role she expects play and outdoor learning to have when delivering the expansion to 1,140 others? Mr MacGregor will be aware that, a couple of months ago, I visited a forest kindergarten here in Edinburgh to make an announcement of spending of over £800,000 to inspiring Scotland to work with eight local authorities to develop a how-to guide for play and outdoor delivery of education, as well as supporting social enterprises. You will also be pleased to learn that about 20 per cent of the additional capacity is going to be outdoor provision. That is a real opportunity to transform the quality of education in Scotland. We have the most incredible asset in our outdoor environment. Just this morning, I spent time at a nursery in Edinburgh. Children outside in the sunshine playing, learning balance, learning communication and the natural appreciation of the natural world as we guddled around digging worms. It is absolutely going to be a key part of our offering going forward. Thank you very much, and that concludes our statement. We will move on to our next item of business in the Commonwealth Games, just to take a few moments for the ministers and members to change.