To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of increasing funded early years education and childcare to 1,140 hours per year for three and four-year-olds and qualifying two-year-olds. (S6O-05255)

As a result of the priority that the Scottish Government has placed on investing in funded early learning and childcare, families across Scotland have benefited from the provision of 1,140 hours of high-quality funded ELC since 2021.

Our interim evaluation, which was published in 2024, showed that uptake of the expanded hours is high, and there are promising signs that the expansion is delivering improvements in flexibility, accessibility and affordability. We expect to publish in early 2026 our overall evaluation of the expansion’s outcomes for children, parents and families over the period 2018 to 2025.

Many of my constituents have praised the increase in hours for their children, because of the impact on the parents’ ability to work and on the finances of the household. How does the Government plan to monitor the benefits of the increase in relation to child development, closing the attainment gap and workforce sustainability across local authority areas, in order for that welcome change to continue to work for the children and families of Scotland?

There is no doubt that providing all families with 1,140 hours of fully funded early learning and childcare for three and four-year-olds since 2021—and ours is the only Government in the United Kingdom to have done so—will have benefited families financially, but we also need to understand the impact that it has had on the measures that James Dornan has outlined.

We are currently evaluating the expansion to 1,140 hours, to better understand the difference that it is making for our children and families, and to consider things such as accessibility, flexibility, quality and take-up. As I have said, we expect to publish the overarching report in early 2026.

There are a number of supplementary questions.

I want to return to the difference in paid rates for private, voluntary and independent nurseries and those for council nurseries. According to a recent survey by the National Day Nurseries Association, 76 per cent of its members found that the fees received from the councils did not cover their costs and that the same proportion were either breaking even or making a loss. Members said that the conditions were in “a terrible state” and that

“Staff are on their knees and nobody ... cares.”

The Minister knows all of that, because I have been telling her repeatedly about it for years on end.

Please ask a question, Mr Rennie.

The time for reviews is over. When will there be a fair rate for doing this really important job?

Mr Rennie knows that I am very switched on to this issue. As well as Mr Rennie and other members in the chamber telling me about it, I go out and engage directly with providers and hear their concerns face to face, so I am very aware of the issue.

Mr Rennie will be aware that the key recommendation of the rates review was to improve the cost data that is available to inform rate setting, and the Diffley Partnership was appointed to lead a national cost data-collection exercise. Those cost surveys were open for providers to complete earlier this year. The surveys reflected the input of providers, and lessons were learned from the previous cost data-collection exercises that have been carried out. I will be presented with that data soon, and then I will consider next steps.

Will the review that the Minister is talking about capture an explanation as to why working parents are finding the funded hours inflexible?

As I said in response to James Dornan, the interim evaluation that we published in 2024 showed promising signs that the expansion was delivering improvements in flexibility. However, as I have said, the overall evaluation will be published in the new year. Of course, we will need to consider our next steps to ensure that our offer is working for all families, if it flags important issues such the one that Mr Whitfield has raised.

Willie Rennie is right. He has been going on about the private and voluntary sector providers for years and years—and quite right, too.

The Minister has disclosed that she is about to receive data, so I think that members will want to hear what the timeline is. When will the data be delivered to the minister, and when will the minister come to the chamber with that information? Will we hear anything in this session of Parliament about this burning issue?

The final report and the data output tables from the ELC cost surveys will be shared with the sector in due course. I believe that the most important thing is to share them with the sector first. As I have said, I will be looking at the numbers and the data that come from that, and I will consider what steps we as a Government will take to bring more regularity to the rates.

On top of the other measures that we have taken—[ Interruption .] I am sorry, but the member is shouting at me from a sedentary position when I am trying to answer his question.

Or not answering it.

What I am saying is that the data will be published, and we will consider next steps, on top of the measures that we have already taken to support the PVI sector.

Before we move to the next question, I should point out that I have called a number of supplementaries and, although we have a bit of time in hand due to questions not being lodged, I would be grateful if, when questions are asked, we could listen to the answers.