Fiona McLeod: I refer Liz Smith to that parliamentary answer. She is right that we took our work from last year with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and our providers to upscale the provision to 600 hours. We then used that work to upscale to the further increased hours. All that information is in the parliamentary answer. We introduced the 600 hours policy last year, and we have extended the...
Fiona McLeod: I do not deny that we do not yet have full flexibility in the system, but does Ms Hilton agree that we are 10 months into what is a huge programme of improvement that we want to roll over to 2020 and that we are not doing badly?
Fiona McLeod: There was quite a lot to cover in the debate, but it was useful. The tone and temper of the debate show that everybody in the chamber, across all the parties, understands how important early learning and childcare is, not only for our young people but for our economy and to support parents, especially women, into work. I will go through a number of the points that members raised and try to...
Fiona McLeod: Everybody is clear that our statistics are not robust for either side of the argument and that there is variability across councils, never mind on either side of the argument. The First Minister has charged the chief statistician with considering how we go about making them robust. On 11 June—how many days away is that?—the statutory guidance group that we set up to develop the statutory...
Fiona McLeod: I will rush through things. In response to Liam McArthur, I point out that on 1 June, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning responded to the Siraj report on development for the childcare workforce. She said that we will answer all the recommendations by autumn this year and she also announced £1 million to put into workforce development for the early years childcare...
Fiona McLeod: I echo other members’ thanks to Christine Grahame for bringing this important issue before Parliament. She has allowed us to highlight to Parliament and to the rest of Scotland the great work that is carried out by Grandparents Parenting Again and Kinship Carers in Midlothian and by all kinship carers and kinship care groups throughout Scotland. All the kinship carers should be saluted and...
Fiona McLeod: Ms Grahame got in just before I came to the librarian part of my speech. I believe that the book will become part of the body of evidence for practitioners and for students in social work. As I am a librarian, members will have heard me talking about evidence in peer-reviewed journals and random controlled trials. However, the body of evidence on kinship care must include real-life stories to...
Fiona McLeod: Outdoor learning is promoted in a number of policies—for example, within the General Teaching Council for Scotland standards for registration—while Education Scotland supports practitioners in every sector to build confidence and competence in outdoor learning. A range of public agencies, including sportscotland and local authorities, provides and promotes outdoor education for children...
Fiona McLeod: It is lovely to hear from Rob Gibson about the wonderful work that is being done by organisations in his constituency. He might be interested to learn of the findings from the University of Stirling’s most recent research on outdoor education. From 2006 to 2014 there has been a 50 per cent increase in outdoor provision for primary school pupils in Scotland, and one of the advantages of that...
Fiona McLeod: The Scottish Government worked closely with local authorities to ensure that places for the estimated number of additional two-year-olds were available from autumn 2014. In the annual census in September 2014, which reported in December 2014, 5,774 two-year-olds were registered for a funded early learning and childcare place.
Fiona McLeod: I am afraid that I do not quite understand where Cara Hilton gets her statistics from. [Interruption.]
Fiona McLeod: In the September census, 10 per cent of all two-year-olds had taken up the provision within the first month of eligibility. That is 10 per cent against a target of 15 per cent. Therefore, within the first month, two thirds had taken up their eligibility. We are not happy to stop there. We have been doing marketing and working with health visitors and the Department for Work and Pensions to...
Fiona McLeod: The eligibility relates to work and benefits. It has also been extended to those who are looked after, under a kinship care order or under guardianship. Those are the criteria that we are using.
Fiona McLeod: Like all my colleagues in the chamber, I begin by congratulating Mark McDonald on securing the debate. I also thank the members from across the parties for supporting the motion and the speakers for their reflective contributions. I point out that Mr McDonald has failed to blow his own trumpet. Just this week, in recognition of the work that he does on the subject, he has been invited to...
Fiona McLeod: The training that I referred to, which has been developed by NHS Education for Scotland, is for all NHS staff, and I encourage dental practices to take part in it. It is important that we work with the autism community to capacity build. I want to mention a local organisation in my constituency, Aspire, which works with and brings together young people with autism. I have been along a couple...
Fiona McLeod: I thank Duncan McNeil for making such a stirring opening to the debate. I welcome the innovative approach of the Health and Sport Committee and the unique format that it followed in challenging other committees to consider what they can bring to the work of reducing health inequalities and ensuring social justice. Scotland’s health continues to improve and people are living longer and...
Fiona McLeod: The Scottish Government places a very high value on early years education and has made early learning and childcare a top priority. We have committed to developing high-quality flexible early learning and childcare that is affordable and accessible for all families, focusing initially on those who are most in need. Since 2007, we have increased early learning and childcare to 600 hours for...
Fiona McLeod: It is for individual local authorities to determine the length and structure of the school day. The statutory requirement is that schools must be open for 190 days, but best practice would be to consult pupils, parents and the community before making any changes to current structures.
Fiona McLeod: I begin by thanking Mary Fee for lodging the motion for debate this afternoon. I also thank all the members who signed it in order to allow it to be debated, and all those who have contributed to the debate. It is fair to say that we all want Scotland to be the best place in the world for children to grow up, so the welfare of our children is of paramount importance. The United Nations...
Fiona McLeod: I take Mary Fee back to my opening remarks on all the provisions under the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014, including the named person and the child’s plan. When Dame Elish Angiolini talks about the focus on the child being the “bread and butter”, it is a bread-and-butter issue—GIRFEC means it is the bread and butter. It is clear that we all have an active role to play...
