3. To ask the Scottish Government what support it is giving to bring people with children back into work. (S6O-02262)

Parental employment support seeks to increase parental income from employment. Our eligibility recognises different family structures, such as kinship carers and those who are parents but are not living with their children.

Responding to the fact that more than two thirds of children in poverty live in working households, we broadened eligibility to ensure that parents in low-income employment can access person-centred support to help them to increase their income.

We work with local partners to promote employment as a route out of poverty and to attract parents to the support that is available by ensuring that employment opportunities are fair and flexible to family circumstances.

I thank the cabinet secretary for his answer regarding local partners. Does the cabinet secretary have discussions or engagement with private and public sector employers regarding home working and, separately, regarding the provision, where practicable, of the 1,140 hours of free nursery care, including to home workers?

Yes. Although the legal powers that govern flexible working are reserved to the United Kingdom Government, we remain committed to improving access to flexible working in all sectors of the economy. We welcome the progress of the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill through the UK Parliament, but we feel that it does not go far enough in giving all employees and, therefore, employers confidence that requests for flexible working will be given thorough consideration.

Asking employers to offer flexible working from day 1 of employment has been a requirement of our fair work first criteria on public spend since October 2021 and, since August 2021, all councils have been offering 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare to all eligible children. The most recent ELC census shows that more than 92,500 children were accessing funded ELC across Scotland in 2022. The estimated uptake rate of funded ELC for three and four-year-olds was 99 per cent in 2022. We will continue to work closely with local government to embed the benefits of expansion as more families come forward, to ensure that childcare is flexible, affordable, accessible and high quality.

Private and voluntary nurseries are often able to offer a greater degree of flexibility in childcare hours than local authorities, which is especially important for shift workers such as nurses. However, the funding model undermines their ability to retain experienced staff in the sector, especially during a cost of living crisis and with increasing pay levels. When will we see a change to help people with children who wish to return to work?

I have received representations from the PVI sector, and I know that Natalie Don has met representatives of the PVI sector to discuss the issues that Beatrice Wishart raises. I hope to meet PVI representatives soon as well, so that we can cement the fact that a strong childcare provision is central to our economic aspirations. I will look to provide an update as soon as I can.