Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 26 October 2023.
The First Minister:
Again, we will update the Parliament on our plans around the budget in due course at the end of this year.
It is fair to say that the overall capacity across the whole childcare sector, in terms of the number of registered places, remained stable between March 2020 and March 2023. We know from the delivery data that we collect from councils specifically that the number of hours that services offer has increased.
However, I take the point that there are challenges around the sustainability of childcare. That is why we will continue to invest in childcare to ensure that we have the most generous offer anywhere in the UK.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
