 Yn y bwysig y ddiddordeb, mae unrhyw o'r ddiddordeb yn ffociwn i'r number 15741 i'r nameu i'r Cada Hilton o'r cost yw Cymru, yn Scotland. Mae'r ddiddor wedi'u gwyllgor i gael gyda'r fwyaf, yn gwych, rydw i'n ardal i gael y ddiddor, mae'n fwyaf i chi'n gwyllgor i'r ddiddor, yn gweithio'r ddiddor i gael i'r ddiddor, o'r gwyllgor i'r ddiddor, o'r ffordd o'r ffordd, a if you are ready, Ms Hilton, please open the debate. You have seven minutes. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. One of the biggest challenges facing mums and dads in my demfermlyn constituency and communities right across Scotland is childcare. The cost of childcare, the quality of childcare, and the availability and flexibility of childcare. It is particularly ironic that we are debating this issue in the evening, because right O'r ffordd, nid oeddaeth i chi'n cael perth先 smaller i mf принимadau i siadwyr, i chi'n meddwl i chi, i chi'n meddwl i wych-en, i chi'n meddwl i chi mwen mwy oesol i chi adael wath gyda'r prifedd a chyfodd ymingau i chi'n gweithio i chi, oedd unrhyw oeddaeth i chi'n meddwl a chi wedi ei ei ddesif Combeitio i chi gyd yn gwiriaeth a'i gweithio i chi i mwy oeddiol ar yêufrol. Gweithio i chi'n meddwl i chi, pan mwy oesol, byw i'n gweithio i chi'n meddwl i chi'ch a thysgwlau gyda siwyddiant, ganiaid i gynharu'r amser, i chi ddur i yn gweld neu fod yn ein bod yn y gilydd, yn nodi'r gweithio gyda chi ddim yn y ddiwyddem�r hynny? Rydyn ni'n ddim yn gweld mae'r dd غfyrdd i'ch cyfu'r marcha wg, rydyn ni'n ei wneud yw'r ddig, mae y'r hafod ddaf yn fwy o'r golygu beth o leolodau i'ch ddääniaeth i'r gwaith gadews, ac nid y pwyllfaen bod y pwyllfaen o wneud gyda chi'n gymhau i siaradau i fynd i meddwl. Felly, oherwydd o'r Ffamiliau a Llywodraeth i Gyllid Gwyrddraeth Cymru, y bydd yn ei wneud 8.5% ar y gael ar gyfer y paeddenig i Gwyrdraeth i Llywodraeth i Gwyrdraeth i Gwyrdraeth i Gwyrdraeth i Ffamiliau a Llywodraeth i gyfnod ar gael y pryd yn cyrch, mae'r cwylio ar gael ar 25 hon i gael ar gyfer gyllidau i gyllidio i Gwyrdraeth i Gwyrdraeth i Gwyrdraeth i 111 pwn Kongau iawn o experimentau aliant i dyd comprehensive iawn. Y genflyniwr wedi fy ngawr cyradra Si 만나 g ym hearing rydych yn cend winding am bobl hyd yn bei gynnwys fawr. Pomiadau hyn yn bwysiedd mae odu sydd ag oesodol, a cognitive iawn nad oesodol ym built sydd gennych gyll инîr yn daith o rydych yn costly iawn a wnaeth llyfrn gyfan hynny yn an setting sydd robo – pror i tro i doktordi ffiffrwaith â'i seithlowoid – a rwy'n d Zahlu yng Nghymbu ein ddiw olan four point one percent last year in Scotland faster than anywhere else in the UK outside London. The bills keep on rising. The cost of childcare is the biggest single bill parents face and it's little surprise that for many mums and dads faced with such high childcare costs, there's little option but to reduce their hours at work or give up their job or career altogether. This impacts not just on parents but on our society and on our economy. Many parents will struggle along and end up in debt with a report by Save the Children finding that a third of low income parents get into debt to pay for childcare. Other families find the money by cutting back on food, day trips and holidays. Many more only manage by working opposite shifts, undermining family life and home relationships. It's not just about cost. The family and childcare trust research found that just 13 per cent of Scottish local authorities have enough childcare to meet the needs of working parents. That contrast with England, where 45 per cent have got enough childcare and Wales, where 40 per cent have got enough. Things are getting worse. Liam McArthur, to Karen Hilton for taking intervention on that specific point, does she agree that it would be helpful as a next stage forward if local authorities were under some obligation at least to map the provision in their areas so that the level of need that is being unmet could then be quantified when steps taken to address it? I think that Liam McArthur must have seen my speech already because I'll be turning to that shortly. Things are getting worse because that figure is down 2 per cent on last year and it compares with 23 per cent in 2014. It's a concern too that just 9 per cent of local authorities have enough childcare for parents with disabled children. Only 4 per cent can cater for parents with atypical work patterns. All of that highlights why there is an urgent need for a genuine national oversight of childcare policy to ensure that the needs of parents in Scotland can be met. Despite the obligation in the 2014 Children and Young People's Act for local authorities to consult and publish plans for childcare for both under-fives and out-of-school care, 16 local authorities in Scotland told the family and childcare trust that they had no information about local childcare supply and parental demand for it. If local authorities and providers of little knowledge of the needs of local parents, then how can they intervene to meet the gaps in the provision? It was Scottish Labour that first introduced free early learning and childcare for three and four year olds. In my motion today welcomes the Scottish Government's extension to 600 hours, but the reality is that, while that is great for children's development, it has very little impact on the childcare costs of the majority of working parents. Few jobs fit around a space available three hours a day during term time only. Many parents continue to pay a child minder or nursery while their child is using their free space, and often that is the only way that they can keep the child minder or private nursery space available. Other parents are unable to access a free hours at all due to the work patterns and lack of free spaces available on private nurseries, and a lack of enthusiasm that many councils have in allowing child minders to become partner providers. The fair funding for our kids campaign has found that, as many as one in five children are not getting the place they are entitled to, and that has been backed up by the National Day Nurseries Association, who say that 43 per cent of private nurseries have had the number of free places that they can offer to parents capped. On average, there is a waiting list of 11 children for each free space that children are entitled to but cannot access. Right across Scotland, thousands of parents are unable to access a free entitlement because of the lack of flexibility that exists. It is a concern that the Family and Child Care Trust report finds little evidence to suggest that action has been taken to address this. I know that the minister is well aware of those issues and is as keen to find a solution as me, but it is frustrating for mums and dads already juggling work and family and childcare to listen to politicians in here who say that parents are hundreds of pounds a year better off thanks to free childcare, when quite often the spin does not reflect the reality of parents' lives. The reality for parents right across Scotland is that childcare costs are spiralling faster than anybody else in the UK outside London. The cost of a nursery place has risen up to 30 per cent in Scotland over the course of this Parliament. Last year, the commission on childcare reform set out a bold vision for the transformation of childcare, and the Family and Child Care Trust have also urged urgent reform of the system. I would like to highlight the fair funding for our kids proposal for a 10-year plan to transform childcare in Scotland. We know that investment in quality and affordable early on in childcare is crucial, not just because it makes work pay, but because it helps to close the attainment gap and also supports our economy and employers. It seems that we all want to see change, and no one more than mums and dads that are faced with huge childcare bills. Once more, the debate in Scotland has been shaped by a point scoring over three hours. In May's election, parents have been promised more free childcare, with a doubling of three hours per three and four-year-olds by 2020. I do not have time now to discuss the challenges of making this happen, but experts, providers, academics, children's organisations and above all parents agree that childcare has to be about affordability, quality and flexibility, as well as free hours. In conclusion, Scotland needs a childcare policy designed to fit around the lives of working parents, not designed to fit an election leaflet or a pledge card. It is not just about free hours good as they are. We need a childcare system that supports parents with children of all ages, a system that recognises that childcare challenges do not end when children start school, which supports parents with babies and toddlers, not just preschoolers, which puts affordability and flexibility at its heart, sporking working parents and our economy too. Whatever the result in May, I hope that we can work together across political divide to deliver the childcare revolution that Scotland's families need and that Scotland's children deserve. Iain Gray, Iain Gray, up to four minutes please. I would like to thank Kara Hill for bringing this important debate to the chamber here tonight, and for some of the things that she said about how we move forward and how we work together in order to deliver for the families throughout Scotland. As far as I am concerned, we are coming from a place where the Scottish Government already has an ambitious programme to give children in Scotland the very best start in life. Raising the amount of free childcare for three and four-year-olds, which Kara Hill has already mentioned, from 415 hours to 475 hours, and now to 600 hours, can make a difference. There is also the fact that vulnerable two-year-olds will be included in that as well. The Scottish Government is delivering for our families. It receives the same provision. Our plans are ambitious. The First Minister recently went on record and said that she says that the biggest capital spend and investment in the future would be in childcare. It is not as easy to show a big shiny new bridge in a road infrastructure project, but it is something that makes a big difference to families throughout our country and our nation. I think that, on top of that, the Scottish Government already wants to increase the hours up to 1,140 hours before the end of the next parliamentary session. I was talking about the capital spend. We are talking about £170 million that could be invested, so that can make a difference. I have also got a personal part to that as well, because I look too young to be a grandparent, but I am a grandparent. My granddaughter, Jessica, is going back to education. She is looking at care in order to ensure that she can go back to education. Obviously, Daisy is coming up for one and a half, but eventually, which is two, three, she will get an opportunity. However, I can understand at a very practical level how difficult it can be for families, but the Government is doing what it can to make sure that that can make a difference within local areas. One of the facts and figures that Kara Hilton brought up with the cost of childcare is just not the case in Scotland. The average weekly cost of childcare of 24 hours for nurseries is in England £113 and in Scotland it is £104. There is an example where it is cheaper for Scotland as well. If you look at 50 hours per week, it is an original average in England of £221 and in Scotland it is £203. Although the costs are quite a bit for families to deal with, it is still not as bad as what others were saying. The investment that the Government is planning on making has been the exciting part of this debate, the fact that we will be moving on to a situation in which we can, ironically, declare an interest even more as my daughter plans to go back to be trained as a nursery nurse. Part of the Government's investment is ensuring that young women like her get the opportunity in young men to possibly get involved in that industry as well. That is part of the debate that we have to remember. We have to build that infrastructure. We have to build it to a stage in which we can ensure that we can deliver for all the families in Scotland. At this stage, we have the commitment from the Scottish Government, we have movement in the hours that we are going, and we have investment. The only thing is to see how we take it to the next stage forward and ensure that we deliver for all the young people and families in Scotland. I want to congratulate Kara Hilton for bringing in this evening's debate. It is a critical issue for families. The figures in the family and childcare trust report to which the motion refers are dramatic and damning. They show that, in Scotland, childcare is unaffordable, it is getting more unaffordable and it is more unaffordable in Scotland than it is in the rest of the UK in spite of the gloss that Mr Adams tried to put on that. There are real consequences for families across Scotland. Kara Hilton went in some detail through some of the ways in which families tried to deal with that, but there are probably two fundamental ways in which families tried to deal with unaffordable childcare. One is that one parent, usually the mother, simply does not work, gives up work or is not able to take up work with all the consequences that that has for the family income and for their career prospects into the future. The second strategy, which is often pursued, is by grandparents taking the strain. Last year, it was the report that the family and childcare trust produced. They surveyed how much childcare was provided by grandparents and discovered that the majority of grandparents in Scotland actually provide some support for childcare and that that figure was much higher in Scotland than it was in the rest of the UK. We should ask ourselves, how did we get to this? We know how we got to this because the childcare alliance undertook a significant piece of work when they set up their commission into the reform of childcare, which Kara Hilton referred to. They were very clear about where we had gone wrong on childcare in recent years. They said that the single-minded focus on preschool free hours to the exclusion of all else had had policy consequences that were detrimental to other unnecessary forms of childcare. Providers, too, have said to us in recent weeks that the underfunding of free childcare places has meant that additional costs have been passed on to those parents and families who are paying for their own childcare or for the additional hours that they need in order to work full-time. The childcare alliance was absolutely clear that what families need is childcare that is flexible all year round, all age and affordable, not just free. There is no reason why we cannot deliver that because other countries do it. Other countries provide childcare in a way that means that childcare arrangements do not come to a grinding halt three times a year when the school holidays start, and childcare that they know will not bankrupt them because there is a limit on what proportion of their income they will have to spend on childcare. Those countries do not invest more public funds than we do, so they invest similar amounts of funds and they get much more back for it. It seems to me, on the minister, that it is to take the opportunity this evening to at least signal a shift in the Government's thinking that it will go into this election not simply boasting about free preschool hours, which, after all on many occasions in recent years, has been about playing catch-up with the rest of the United Kingdom, but rather that they will present to us a plan to move forward to see the transformation in childcare that families in Scotland want and need and which we can do if we have the political will to do it. I would also like to thank Kara Helton, because any opportunity to debate childcare early years is very welcome. In this institution, we talk about higher education, schools etc. I am no doubt after more than a couple of decades in this Parliament that the most important part of the education process is preschool, so I thank her for bringing this forward. In her motion, the figure that jumped out at me was that, in Scotland, only 13 per cent of local authority areas report having enough childcare for working parents, 13 per cent and only 9 per cent can provide childcare for disabled children. The other point that I took from the Care Inspectorate report that I have read a few reports in advance of today was the children attending early learning in urban areas 29 per cent and in remote and rural areas 13 per cent. As an MSP for the Highlands and Islands, I think that there are many, many people missing out simply because of transport and other issues. I am talking about missing out. My colleague Liz Smith has spoken over many years about the fact that some people get six terms of free childcare preschool and others get four. The 600 hours for two years is also quite misleading. If the child is born between 1 March and the end of August, they will get six terms. If they are born between 1 September and the end of December, they will get five terms. If they are born between 1 January and last day of February, they will get four terms. I thought that that was odd, and I know that Liz Smith has pointed it out quite regularly. However, what I had not appreciated was that, in the statutory guidance paragraph 68, there are arrangements to commence closer to the child's third birthday encouraged to support the longer term aims to increase the amount of early learning. However, I understand that this is at the discretion of local authorities. However, I further understand that they would not receive any additional funding. If we look for a fair system where everyone gets two years pre-school, we have to also look at the additional funding. However, the report that Kara Hilton has mentioned regularly today, the Family and Child Care Trust, the 13 per cent of local authorities providing enough childcare for working parents compares with 43 per cent in England. We are not just one or two per cent behind England, Ian Gray talked about catching up. England is three times higher than we are, and I think that that is really an issue that the minister I hope she will address today, and I do think that we are addressing that over the longer term. When it comes to costing, George Adam mentioned over 1,000 hours. Nicola Sturgeon said that she would double the childcare funding to £439 to £880. Having spent five years on the audit committee, how does she know that it is going to cost £880? Will it cost more? Will it cost less? Where does that figure come from? If everyone was able to take up the childcare, it may cost so much more. Just because she doubled the figure does not mean that it is an adequate figure to use. I would also, in this debate and the short time I have left, just like to mention the fact that I think it was a hustings I was at probably less than a year ago, where I heard that councils across Scotland pay varying rates for to independent nurseries for childcare. Now some were receiving £5 per hour per child, others were receiving less than £3. Now that leads me on to my next point because I think another thing in this Parliament, we have never ever valued properly the contribution that childcare early years nursery staff make. They are more qualified, they are registered with the Scottish Social Services Council, the care inspectorate are rigorous in their inspections, the quality is excellent and I think that we need to fund the councils and councils need to fund the nurseries and above all we need to value the staff that look after children day after day in Scotland. Thank you. I now call the minister Eileen Campbell to close the debate on behalf of the Government. Seven Minutes thereby, please minister. Okay, thank you, Presiding Officer, and again, like everyone else who's contributed this evening, I'd like to thank Cara Helton for bringing the important debate to Parliament. While we do have differences, it's important, I think in the closing remarks that she made in her speech, that we do work together on areas of commonality. Like Cara, I have a young family and it's not a necessity that you have to have a young family to understand the pressures of family life but it is a practical lived experience of the challenges that many families face across the country. I am delighted to have an opportunity to debate childcare because this Government has been ambitious in terms of what we want to do to work to ensure all our children get the best possible start in life and to make a significant difference for future generations of families. We have massively expanded early learning in childcare by almost half from 412.5 hours a year to 600 hours a year and we have all committed to almost doubling this again to 1,140 hours per year by the end of the next Parliament. That's equivalent to the number of hours that a child spends at school and it has to be focused. The reason that we focus on ours is because we want to ensure that that is configured in a much more flexible way in response to what families need. In response to the points that Iain Gray made around the cost of childcare, Scotland's average weekly cost of childcare for both 25 hours and for 50 hours a week in terms of early learning childcare are lower in every single area in comparison to England in the rest of the UK. Scotland's childcare costs are lower and what we are doing is trying to ensure that we are providing the resource that is necessary to help families even further. We have fully funded the expansion, which is already £500 million in the first three years. Far from cutting expenditure, we have invested unprecedented levels of capital, £170 million to front-load infrastructure changes, with local authorities receiving their final £30 million instalment in 2016-17, as agreed with COSLA. It is absolutely vital that the full funding that is allocated by the Scottish Government is prioritised on the transformation that we seek over the next Parliament, because this money is money well invested. With it, we are improving outcomes for all our children, especially those who will benefit most. We are supporting parents to work, train or study, especially those who need routes into sustainable employment, and we are reducing the burden of cost to parents equivalent to saving £780 a year for those additional hours. Our ambitions go beyond simply increasing hours. Our aim is to develop high-quality, flexible early learning and childcare, which is affordable and accessible for all, and is integrated with school and out-of-school care. That is why the Children and Young People Act introduced for the very first time an entitlement for 27 per cent of two-year-olds who will benefit most from early learning and childcare to make a significant contribution to closing the attainment gap and improving equality for all our children. That is why we have also introduced for the first time a requirement on local authorities to provide choice and flexibility based on local consultations with parents providing opportunities for employment support and family support. If we are serious about giving children the best possible start in life, then quality is non-negotiable. I agree that that does not have to just be about three hours, but it has to be about quality and flexibility. In terms of quality, that is why we are making early learning and childcare part of the learning journey from birth, integrated with the earliest stages of curriculum for excellence. That is why we are supporting the development of an early learning and childcare workforce, which is, in response to Mary Scanlon, highly valued and based on specialist skills. That is why we are introducing additional graduates from 2018 to support children who will benefit most. That is also why we are creating a new standard of training and induction for childminders so that they can become integral to our expansion on funded entitlements. That is also why we are continuing to fund the universities of Aberdeen and Strathclyde to deliver early-year specific master's qualifications for primary teachers to provide opportunities for teachers to specialise. That is also why we are providing £1 million to invest in pilots of different types of early learning and childcare as a way to find out what works well for families and children. I wonder if I can ask—there is a significant range in the payments per hour per child from local authorities. I was quite shocked to know that some were under £3, others were over £5. If we value the workforce, surely the nurseries have to be funded in order to financially value them as well? Is that something that the Government will look at? I am not sure of the point that Mary Scanlon is making. I am not sure whether she is talking about the workforce or the funding that goes to private nurseries, which is a cause of concern. It is an issue that we are looking at across the board, but we have a financial review that is looking into the cost of delivering childcare. I am not sure of the point that she was making about the workforce, whether it is about their pay, terms and conditions, but we want to respond to the challenges that were set out by Professor Saraj that looked at the workforce when we commissioned her. We absolutely have to recognise that the formative years in a child's life are the early years. The workforce is dealing with children a crucial point in their development, so we need to speak loudly about the work that they do and make sure that they are recognised across the piece. In the past three years, we have delivered significantly on making this transformation a reality. The Cairns Spectre published a report last week of an initial overview of implementation from June 2014 and concluded that local authority efforts have been considerable and that significant achievement in making the new entitlements available. We are seeing improvement across local authorities and a number of local authorities who are responding to parental demand and the way in which they want to see their childcare delivered. We are also seeing local authorities work with partners, which include the third sector and private providers, in a number of innovative and different ways. For instance, Cala in the Highlands—perhaps Mary Scam will be familiar with that—are providing a wide range of innovative solutions and services in partnership with Highland Council. SEMA are supported in our promoting child minding with a number of different local authorities to ensure that flexibility is there for families that they are working with. Earlier Scotland is developing play group solutions and support for the involvement of parents in Dumfries and Galloway. NDNA has developed forums and partnerships with local authorities across the whole country, with a majority of local authorities now no longer stipulating session times from private nurseries. Glasgow City Council has a trial and holiday cover, as well as creating 500 new partner providers. The Jobcentre Plus is working to promote higher uptake, for example. Inverclyde, East Lothian and Midlothian are promoting outreach work for parents. Many local authorities, such as the one that Cary Hilton covers in Fife, are expanding and opening their own centres to full days year-round with options for parents to purchase additional hours. That is some of the examples that are happening across the country, but we are not complacent. Although the challenges that I have outlined are positive, there still remain challenges. Improvement is on-going on flexibility, but we need to be imaginative and innovative in the way in which we respond to the parental and family challenges that are existent for many across the country. We need to continue to engage and listen and respond and work with parents as partners in how we configure and develop the additional hours that we want to roll out over the next parliamentary session. As George Adam said, the investment that we are making in this is significant, is considerable, is a mark of the seriousness by which this Government takes childcare as a way to promote family cohesion, allowing parents to go on and find ways to get training or drop opportunities. As the First Minister said, she made it absolutely clear that the biggest transformational investment over the next parliamentary session will not be a road or a bridge, but it will be the transformation of early learning and childcare, investing in the future of our children and families and creating real equality of opportunity for the future of our country. That does not dimmer from the challenges that exist and that we need to overcome, but if we do that in a collective way, using and drawing upon the areas in which we have common areas of interest working together, we can make this transformation happen and deliver for families and for the children that we want to make sure that we have the best possible start in life.