The final item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S4M-10053, in the name of Christina McKelvie, on One Parent Families Scotland. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament recognises the work that One Parent Family Scotland (OPFS) does with communities to empower Scottish families to overcome the barriers that they encounter; acknowledges the support that it provides for parents to help them give their children the best possible chances in life, with improved health and a stable home environment; understands that, in 2012-13, OPFS directly supported over 2,000 children and over 1,000 adults through group and individual support sessions; notes in particular its Transforming Lives project, which was recently celebrated in Hamilton and involves groups of single mums, most in their late teens or early twenties, who have not had the greatest environment to bring their child up in; considers that, through Transforming Lives, they have discovered what they are capable of and are evidently determined to achieve; commends Margaret McTaggart, who leads the programme, for, it considers, tirelessly helping the young women to get to grips with the practicalities of motherhood; recommends the OPFS’s recent annual report, Better lives, Built together, which it considers is packed full of case studies describing how the organisation’s intervention helped change lives positively; wishes OPFS the best of luck in the future, and welcomes its positive contribution to communities across Scotland.
17:07
I thank all colleagues across the chamber who have signed the motion and supported the great work of One Parent Families Scotland, which has allowed us to have the debate. I welcome to the public gallery people who are involved in One Parent Families Scotland who have come through from the west to spend the afternoon with us and to listen to the debate. We need to get this right for those people, so no pressure.
When someone happens to get pregnant at 15, her mother is not too enamoured, the boyfriend has legged it and her big sister thinks that she is mad even to consider having a baby, she feels very alone. I was enormously impressed when, in my constituency, I heard the stories of young single mums who had been benefiting from the mentoring of folk from One Parent Families Scotland on its transforming lives programme.
That programme really transforms lives. The young mums go from the start of the process to the awards ceremony. They make progress, they have aspirations, they set goals and they form strong bonds with the women they meet on that journey.
The young mothers I met at Whitehill neighbourhood centre in Hamilton were a testament to the difference that it makes when people have strong local support in their lives. They talked about the lifelong friendships that they had formed during the programme and about how they now saw opportunities that had never crossed their minds before. They were indeed transformed.
Those young mothers wanted to get out there and grab every chance that they could for themselves and their children. They had learned a lot about what they could do and how they could do it and a lot about what their talents and skills were and how to apply them positively.
Contrary to Johann Lamont’s something-for-nothing culture, those young women refuse to be caught in the benefits trap. They want something better than that for themselves and their children, and they absolutely merit access to the agencies that can help them to move forward. Their children deserve that, too. Motherhood and fatherhood are hard work—ask any of us who have been there. People accumulate a lot of skills, a lot of resilience and a lot of problem-solving abilities along the way.
One Parent Families Scotland offers a range of advice, from courses to a helpline to downloadable information packs that cover everything from separation and divorce to fuel and energy advice, work, employability, education and even web safety. Its services include childcare, employability and family support services and an information and advice service that can be contacted via 0808 801 0323, which is a freephone number.
The Scottish Government wants every child to have the best possible start in life, and an element of that is ensuring that no mum or dad is denied access to the services and support that can help them with their child to fulfil their potential. The mentoring of Margaret McTaggart, who is in the public gallery—she will have a red face, and I will get a row for that—and her team at One Parent Families Scotland is crucial for confidence as well as achievement. One of the main things that I have seen at awards ceremonies is the confidence and trust that young mums have developed in Margaret and her team. They trust them implicitly, take advice, guidance and support and make lifelong friendships. As Margaret has said:
“It’s not about being smart or academic, it’s about real life; about having the opportunities that will allow you to make a real contribution for yourself, for your child and for the wider community too.”
Benefits in the United Kingdom are tightening all the time and young mothers are an easy target for Westminster’s austerity regime. The Scottish Government believes that this country’s children are our future, and we are proving that with our commitment to transformational childcare. That was the word “transformational” again. The word “transformation” is a very important word in the debate.
Today’s Daily Record reveals that, after asking for the Scottish Government’s input to a report on implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Westminster Government withheld the Scottish Government’s position from the final report. In that final report, the Westminster Government claimed that welfare changes will help to reduce child poverty. It completely failed to include any reference to the Scottish Government’s position that Westminster’s welfare cuts will only make child poverty worse.
Last week, Save the Children warned that the number of children who live in poverty in the UK is set to rise by 41 per cent, from 3.5 million to 5 million, by 2020 as a result of flat wages, cuts to benefits and the rising cost of living. That is an amazing and unbelievable figure. Every single one of those 5 million is a small child.
Poverty is a man-made problem, but it can be unmade, too. However, the Westminster Government seems hell-bent on continuing its destructive policies, and the children here are the biggest losers.
We should contrast that with the Scottish Government’s approach. Through the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014, we are already increasing the available free hours to 600 a year. Come independence, the Scottish Government will go much further: if we are re-elected, we will introduce 1,140 hours of free childcare for pre-school children. That is the equivalent of a full school week, and that will help not only to close the attainment gap; it will help mothers and fathers to fulfil their own ambitions with the support of our society behind them.
The amazing women I met in Hamilton are excited by that prospect. They see how it can open opportunities for both them and their children. They were amazed when I told them that, in Norway, the economic impact of women in the workforce is equivalent to that of the country’s oil income.
Scotland cares about its future generations and we want to see every child, as well as every parent, fulfilling his or her hopes and ambitions. I have no doubt that many of my colleagues across the chamber feel the same, although perhaps we disagree on the method of achieving that aspiration and transformation for our children.
With a yes vote in September, we can look forward to building on the fantastic support services that One Parent Families Scotland already has in place and to truly transforming the lives of mums and dads, and more important, the lives of our children.
17:13
I congratulate Christina McKelvie on lodging the motion and pay tribute to the work of One Parent Families Scotland. I believe that it was founded in 1944. From my own experience, I certainly know that it has done a wide range of very important work for decades.
Christina McKelvie described the work in her constituency. I pay tribute to the project that she described, which is one example of many throughout Scotland that we can cite. There are certainly many projects in Edinburgh. In fact, the headquarters of One Parent Families Scotland was in my constituency for a long time. Unfortunately, the boundary slipped slightly, so it is now in Marco Biagi’s constituency. Nevertheless, over many years, I have had a close relationship with One Parent Families Scotland, particularly when Sue Robertson was the director. It has certainly had a big influence on me and on my thinking on the matters that it deals with.
Near the beginning, the motion describes One Parent Families Scotland’s work pretty succinctly when it says that it works to
“empower Scottish families to overcome the barriers that they encounter”.
If any phrase can encapsulate its work, that does. Christina McKelvie described the wide range of work that the charity does, which includes the family support project in her constituency. There are many projects throughout Scotland that support women but, in Edinburgh, there is a dads club. One Parent Families Scotland has been involved in that area of work for some time. I pay tribute to Ian Maxwell from the central organisation, who developed much of that work before he moved on to another post.
Christina McKelvie also mentioned employability support. Most lone parents want to have the opportunity to move into work at a time that is appropriate for them, but sometimes the route to employment can be complex and might involve things such as personal development training. Much of One Parent Families Scotland’s work is focused on that. It also provides flexible and affordable childcare services, including childcare at home and mobile crèches, and, crucially, it provides information and advice, including through its lone parent helpline. I can claim a slight connection with that because, believe it or not, I was supposed to launch it in Scotland in March 2002 with J K Rowling—although I suppose that J K Rowling was supposed to launch it with me. However, she did not turn up—I was told that she was ill—so I ended up having to launch it myself. I am certainly pleased that the helpline continues to do its excellent work.
The information and advice aspect has led One Parent Families Scotland to get involved in campaigning. It knows better than anyone the problems that lone parents face. Christina McKelvie highlighted the welfare changes and child poverty, which are such an unfortunate feature of One Parent Families Scotland’s present case load. Many issues have arisen because of the recent change under which lone parents have to find work when their children are five. Some parents will want to find work before that, if that is appropriate for them, which is fine, but the measure has caused difficulties and pressures for some parents, and it has perhaps been implemented differentially. There is also the issue of sanctions—in my constituency, I have come across quite appalling circumstances in which a lone parent has been sanctioned for no good reason at all.
There are lots of particular issues, most of which are the responsibility of the Westminster Government, as Christina McKelvie pointed out. However, to repeat a point that I made in the childcare debate last week, because lone parents have to look for work when their child is five, many lone parents, who might be 25, 30 or even older, need support. The childcare academy in my constituency has drawn attention to the fact that Skills Development Scotland primarily provides places in the academy for parents who are under 25. There is an issue there for Skills Development Scotland.
My final point, which also comes from the childcare academy, takes us back to Jobcentre Plus. When parents are in training, Jobcentre Plus provides childcare support of £35 a day, which is absolutely standard, but in Edinburgh it is sometimes difficult to find childcare, which is a problem for some of the lone parents who attend the academy and, no doubt, those who are in other training places throughout Scotland.
So there are a range of issues, but I am happy to endorse the motion and to once again pay tribute to One Parent Families Scotland.
17:18
I, too, congratulate my colleague Christina McKelvie on securing this members’ business debate. I apologise in advance, as I might have to leave the chamber early—I have a previous commitment this evening, so I might not hear the closing speech.
We all know that families come in all shapes and sizes and that their make-up is affected by a myriad of circumstances, including bereavement. However, we know that, without fear or favour, they all have a home at One Parent Families Scotland.
I am particularly glad to speak about the organisation, because of the work that it does across my region of Central Scotland. Ms McKelvie has already highlighted its work in South Lanarkshire, particularly with young mothers in the Whitehill neighbourhood centre, but I will highlight a project in North Lanarkshire—the us together project, which is aimed at single fathers. The project organises free activities and outings for single fathers and their children, including for men who have only a part-time role in caring and who maybe see their children for only part of the time.
I have been very moved by other debates in the chamber. My colleague Christian Allard is speaking in the debate. He has highlighted some of the challenges that he has experienced as a single father and, I am sure, would be interested in the project. It takes families off to soft play centres, swimming centres and play parks. Fathers get a chance to meet, bond with and share their experiences with other men who are bringing up children on their own.
One of the key strengths of One Parent Families Scotland is that it not only nurtures the family and its emotional needs but helps on a range of issues that affect single parents, including housing, parenting benefits, education, training and accessing other support for the family. I point out that the support is available to fathers of all ages because, as I said, families come in all shapes and sizes.
I was particularly pleased that Ms McKelvie mentioned the One Parent Families Scotland helpline, which is 0808 801 0323—I mention it again because it is important—because it also gives legal advice to unmarried fathers about welfare and child support issues. That is an extremely important part of what the organisation does.
I also highlight a project in the north of my Central Scotland constituency: the Braes family support centre in Falkirk. Support workers are there to offer one-to-one and group support for single parents. They consider issues such as setting boundaries in families, parenting skills, debt, benefits advice and supporting the mental health of the families who are involved in the centre.
Those are two extremely important projects in which One Parent Families Scotland is involved in my area. I also highlight the support that it gives on employability because it recognises that, when young people find themselves caring for their children in circumstances that were perhaps unplanned and unexpected, it can close an awful lot of doors in their lives. One Parent Families Scotland supports people in employability, working closely with partner agencies, to get an integrated package of support for families in their local communities, thereby giving them an opportunity to make realistic work and life choices that benefit their families in the long run.
One Parent Families Scotland also campaigns on behalf of its members and the people it supports. That includes campaigning work on childcare, which is pertinent to the debate about Scotland’s future. The organisation recognises that accessible, affordable and flexible childcare is at the heart of supporting families in the areas that I mentioned.
17:23
I thank Christina McKelvie for lodging this important motion. The work that One Parent Families Scotland has done in its long history is commendable. It is good that people from the charity are in the public gallery this evening.
As Christina McKelvie rightly said, being a single parent inevitably comes with a host of challenges. That parent may be young and still trying to find his or her way in the world. He or she may lack confidence about the best way to bring up his or her child. They may struggle to balance work commitments with childcare. They may face stigmatising attitudes towards them in society, most especially if they face poverty issues related to abuse. Of course, if the parent or his or her child also suffers from health problems, that makes it doubly difficult.
Over the years, OPFS has brought to our attention the great number of one-parent families in Scotland. It is now estimated that there are somewhere in the region of 165,500 one-parent families in Scotland. That involves 281,000 children. In both cases, that is a significant rise on the statistics that there might have been 20 or 30 years ago. As Malcolm Chisholm rightly said in his speech, the range of support that OPFS provides is, therefore, even more important; so, too, is the concern that we have for those who provide the front-line services, often in difficult circumstances.
As we all know from several recent debates in the Parliament, one of the biggest challenges that single parents face at the moment is finding affordable and reliable childcare. That is made doubly difficult for single parents who operate on low incomes, as they know that it can often be an additional barrier to finding employment and being able to support themselves and their children. I thought that Malcolm Chisholm raised some important points about some of the work that is being done in his constituency on that.
The OPFS has a childcare at home service, which is registered with the Care Inspectorate. It provides quality childcare in the family home, which can provide great security for the families that we are talking about and is provided seven days a week. The OPFS has a mobile crèche as well. It is an excellent service, and it is obviously very much appreciated by everyone involved.
As parliamentarians, we constantly receive strong messages about policy measures that we could adopt to support lone parents with their childcare, especially regarding the facility to book childcare assistance by the hour rather than by the block, thus minimising unnecessary expenditure, and the need to work with employers to help them to be as accommodating as they can be when it comes to supporting parents’ childcare needs. There is a need to encourage flexible working times to allow parents to take their children home at the right time. That is particularly relevant for lone parents who do not have any support from other family members.
That flexibility would help to break down some of the barriers that prevent many lone parents from entering the workplace. The 2011 census was a stark reminder of the work that we have to do to ensure that those single parents can be helped.
As has been noted in the motion, Margaret McTaggart is a shining example with regard to the help that she has provided in the important area of employability—I know that she will be embarrassed by those words, but she deserves great credit. Her wise counsel about awareness and support is crucial with regard to the positive influence that can be provided. She should not be embarrassed in any way. We owe her a great debt in that regard.
Once again, I thank Christina McKelvie for bringing this matter to the Parliament, and I thank OPFS for the work that it does.
17:27
Like the members before me, I congratulate Christina McKelvie on securing this debate on an important motion that recognises the work that One Parent Families Scotland has done in Scotland for the past 65 years with regard to advocacy and service delivery expertise. It has more than 200 staff and a turnover of more than £2 million.
I particularly enjoyed Christina McKelvie’s opening speech, which made a good point about mothers and fathers. Malcolm Chisholm talked about the great services for fathers that we now have in Edinburgh. He also talked about opportunities for single parents, which is something that I recognise very much. I know that J K Rowling is a great example for single mothers, but we need to have that kind of example for single fathers as well. It is important to have such a role model that can enable people to understand what opportunities there are for single parents both during the time when they are raising their children and after their children have grown up.
As Clare Adamson pointed out, for more than 10 years I was a single father. That is part of myself and is one of the reasons why I am in Parliament today. The struggle of being a single parent can make people realise the challenges that are involved for single mothers and single fathers, and for the children.
I recognise the fantastic work that One Parent Families Scotland does. I know how much it encourages lone parents in the North East Scotland to believe in themselves, discover new talents, take up new interests and enter education, training or work. In Dundee, it runs a community family support project. It also runs a group called us together—supporting Scotland’s children and their fathers. I note in OPFS’s annual report that contributors such as Scottish Television have made great contributions to enable the organisation to develop innovative services such as those at the new Families House in Dundee, which I would love to go and visit.
Dundee also has flexible childcare facilities. Those same services are replicated in rural Scotland. Sometimes, we forget about rural Scotland. We need to consider more than just the services that are deployed in towns and in the central belt, but the services that are deployed in the north, the north-east and other parts of rural Scotland where single parents may face more challenges.
We have flexible childcare services in Aberdeenshire and Angus. High-quality registered childminders are offered in a person’s home. That home-based childcare is very important. When I was a single parent, I started work very early in the morning, and I needed that childcare to allow me to keep working. It is not easy to find that support in rural Scotland or even across Scotland.
Crèches are now provided all across Aberdeenshire. It is a fantastic time to be a single parent because, at last, it is recognised not only in Parliament but out in the world how valuable our single parent families are.
I will talk briefly about our work in the Equal Opportunities Committee. We began our inquiry on fathers and parenting because 8 per cent of Scotland’s 165,000 single parents are fathers. That means that around 13,000 families are headed by a single dad. The Equal Opportunities Committee took evidence on fathers and parenting, and One Parent Families Scotland brought to us fantastic evidence to help us in our work.
Some of the recommendations were about nursery staff, health visitors and how it feels to be excluded. That exclusion is particularly acute for single fathers, although it applies to single mothers, too. A single father said in a survey that society puts too many unnecessary barriers in our way. Lone parents and their children deserve better; becoming a lone father to a family is difficult enough.
One Parent Families Scotland said that the fathers it spoke to wanted to be treated as parents who have the same skills and face the same challenges as mothers. In 21st century Scotland, single parents must be treated equally to couples whatever their skills and whatever challenges they face. Families are not just about the numbers—the number of parents or children in a family should not matter.
17:32
I thank Christina McKelvie for securing the debate. I also thank those members who have stayed this evening to show their support for One Parent Families Scotland. I add my welcome to the members of One Parent Families Scotland who are in the gallery. I am pleased and delighted that the organisation has been recognised for its passionate work to develop further its innovative approach to family support through projects such as transforming lives, which was mentioned by Christina McKelvie; the Edinburgh dad’s club, which was mentioned by Malcolm Chisholm; and the recently launched us together project, which was mentioned by Clare Adamson.
As a Government, we want to make Scotland the best place in the world to grow up and to allow every child the opportunities to flourish. We want to be a more child-friendly country and to have a culture that supports all parents and carers and values their role, whatever shape their families take. Organisations such as One Parent Families Scotland are helping us to achieve that ambition.
I am pleased and proud to recognise One Parent Families Scotland’s work. During my time as a minister, I have really enjoyed getting to know the organisation a bit better. I have seen its work through visits to Falkirk. Recently, I attended a conference where the speakers who absolutely stole the show were the young mums who spoke passionately about what they want to do, their aspirations for their children and the support that they have received from One Parent Families Scotland. Like Christina McKelvie, I found those individuals’ stories to be inspiring. They showed the tangible difference that the organisation makes to individual lives and families, too.
I pay particular thanks to One Parent Families Scotland because it also sits on a number of Government boards and groups and provides valuable input into our work and policy development, particularly on the ministerial advisory group for child poverty.
As we have heard this evening, One Parent Families Scotland does a number of wonderful things in key areas that make a real difference to the lives of lone parents and their families. One such area is the support that it provides to lone parents to get into employment. As many members have said, employment is a gateway that serves as the means to provide for our families. However, for some lone parents finding suitable, flexible and well-paid work can be a real challenge. Malcolm Chisholm pointed out that complexity in his contribution.
The integrated package of support that is provided by One Parent Families Scotland gives lone parents the training, information and advice that they need to make informed choices on how, where and when they work. The Scottish Government recognises the important role that flexible working plays in helping lone parents to manage the twin responsibilities of work and parenting. In order to help all parents to thrive at home and at work, we are funding a collaboration with Fathers Network Scotland, Parenting across Scotland and Working Families to try to change the way in which Scotland’s parents live and work.
We are working with employers to support them in creating workplaces that encourage a better work-life balance for everyone. That is of particular relevance to Christian Allard’s contribution, because it has a particular focus on fathers. I appreciate the candidness with which Christian Allard spoke of his experience as a single father and acknowledge the particular interest that he takes, through the work of the Equal Opportunities Committee, in ensuring that we do more to support fathers to contribute to the lives of their children.
As members have pointed out this evening, there is no such thing as a nuclear family any more. In 2011, there were 236,000 lone-parent households in Scotland, which equates to 11 per cent of all households in our country. It is clear that families come in all shapes and sizes and that many will need to juggle multiple responsibilities. High-quality, flexible childcare that parents can afford, as well as family-friendly working practices, are crucial to Scotland’s families—whatever form those families take.
I particularly applaud the childcare services that One Parent Families Scotland provides across the country, be that its home-based service, its mobile crèche or its personalised care for children with additional needs. The provision of such flexible support is vital for Scotland’s families, which is why, as a Government, we are building on our previous increase in annually funded early learning and childcare provision from 412.5 hours to 475 hours in 2007 with the further expansion to 600 hours from this August. That represents a 45 per cent increase in provision in places for three and four-year-olds since this Government came to office and is worth up to £707 per child, per year.
That further embeds flexibility, which I know is important to families across Scotland, particularly one-parent families. It is important to recognise that such policy developments often take meaningful contributions from parents themselves, and I know that One Parent Families Scotland has fed into the development of our childcare policy.
The type of support that One Parent Families Scotland provides across Scotland does not just stop at employability and childcare. The specialised service that it offers to parents to help to ensure that children are given the best possible chances in life is also worthy of note. Support for parents is absolutely key to improving outcomes for our children. We want to build the knowledge, skills and confidence of all parents so that they can be, and do, the best that they can for their kids.
Parenting skills, advocacy, mentoring, signposting and support groups are provided by One Parent Families Scotland to help parents to overcome barriers and take positive steps towards their family’s future. Innovative projects such as transforming lives are invaluable and can nurture and encourage lone parents to form new relationships, friendships and networks of support.
The national parenting strategy, which was launched 18 months ago, is for all of Scotland’s parents. It acknowledges that, as Christina McKelvie noted, being a mum or a dad is one of the hardest and most important jobs that anyone can take on. When we come back from the maternity unit, we do not get a handbook with that wee bundle of joy, though it could be very useful.
The challenges are even greater for families in difficult situations. Almost one in four children now lives in lone-parent households, and that figure is projected to rise further in future. We want to be certain that the right support and services exist to meet the particular needs of lone-parent families. We also want to be certain that no parent or family ever feels isolated. We want to ensure that they can access information, advice and support whenever they need it most. With an investment of £18 million, we are in the process of doing that by promoting access to, and participation in, a comprehensive range of activities and services, and by making the best use of all the resources available in order to improve community wellbeing.
We want parents to recognise their strength and be all they can be, which is why transforming lives is so good—it is about revealing to parents the skills that they have. The term that is used so often to describe that approach is an “asset-based approach”, and I really like the way in which our former chief medical officer, Sir Harry Burns, described it as moving people from being “passive recipients of services” towards being
“active agents in their own lives.”
That is good for parents and particularly good for children, who will go on to be the parents of the future.
One Parent Families Scotland offers single parents help to develop strong relationships. We have heard about those who work in transforming lives, particularly Margaret McTaggart, who clearly goes above and beyond the call of duty, and shows just how passionate she is to help the parents in her care—Christina McKelvie and Liz Smith both made that point.
I thank Christina McKelvie and the others who contributed to the debate. I also warmly thank One Parent Families Scotland for its commitment to children and parents across Scotland, and I wish it every success for the future. Challenges remain: welfare reforms and tackling poverty pose significant challenges not only to our work in Government but to the work that is done by One Parent Families Scotland and other organisations like it across the country. We will continue to work together in partnership, using the powers that we have, to ensure that children get the very best start in life and that all parents are respected and valued for the very important role that they fulfil. Again, I thank Christina McKelvie for bringing this important topic for debate.
Meeting closed at 17:41.Previous
Point of Order