To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has plans to make child care funding a legal right for college and university students rather than it being provided on a discretionary basis.

Full-time higher education lone parent students currently have an entitlement to apply for Higher Education Lone Parent Grant and Higher Education Lone Parent Childcare Grant.

The Scottish Government currently has no plans to make other child care funding available through the Discretionary Funds a legal right for college and university students.

The Scottish Government published, on the 15 December, a consultation on student support for higher education. The consultation will consider the current support arrangements for higher education students and seek views on a number of proposals in connection with that.

The Scottish Government published on 10 December its Early Years and Early Intervention Framework which recognises that the cost and accessibility of child care is a major concern for parents in Scotland. At present, child care support for parents is a reserved matter, and is provided via the childcare vouchers and child tax credit schemes. In the framework, we set out a desire for a single, accessible and more progressive system of supporting the costs of child care.