Chamber and committees

Absolutely. I am very keen on the SFA programme. I visited one of its projects and can say that what it delivers for targeted primary school children from low-income families, through provision of before-school, after-school and holiday activity clubs, is fantastic. As Mr Adam rightly said, last Friday we announced that we are increasing our investment in the programme to £5.5 million. That will allow the programme to increase the number of clubs that it supports from 31 to 53 and ensure that it will reach children and young people across Scotland. The programme is very important because, as we are aware, families and children have different needs so taking a one-size-fits-all approach is not appropriate. Understanding that will be absolutely instrumental as we work towards establishing a system for school-age childcare in future.

Recently, an annual impact report on the programme was published, which highlighted the improved outcomes for children who participate, and particularly for those from families on low incomes. That is one of two publications; a more detailed process evaluation report will be published soon, which will explore some of the themes that came out of the first report, such as tackling child poverty, improving school attendance and achieving improved outcomes for children.

I really encourage any members who have not visited one of the projects to do so, because they are fantastic. The children and young people who spoke to me at the one that I visited said that they were having a fantastic time, so expanding the programme is a very positive move.

The Scottish Government will set out our position on the financial resolution in due course. However, I emphasise what I said earlier to, I believe, Mr Ross: I feel that our conversations on this matter have been extremely productive. We have moved forward a lot from where we were at the stage 1 debate, and I will continue to have those discussions with Ms Smith.

In a moment I will bring in Andrew Watson to speak about those obligations. I say to Ms Duncan-Glancy that I have heard about that issue frequently, and not just in Glasgow. I know about the specific issue that she raises with me. Concerns have been raised about that by stakeholders across the school-age childcare sector.

We are doing work on the regulation of school-age childcare, and we are trying to take a more balanced approach to allow for a system in which both those alternate models can work together. We do not want a situation in which providers are displaced. As I made clear to Mr Adam, we want to ensure that the school-age childcare systems that we have in place now benefit us in terms of the learning that we take from them and, most importantly, that they provide good experiences for children and young people and support families who are part of our country’s workforce.

I am actively involved in looking at the regulation of the sector, and I am considering whether we can strike a more balanced approach in some areas. I will bring in Andrew Watson to elaborate on that.

Of course. Our six early adopter communities are backed by £16 million of Scottish Government investment. That goes back to what I said earlier about the extra time projects, which are providing really valuable insights into what families require. Our early adopter community projects are involved in a number of things over and above childcare in order to support families, and that will be key to the learning that we will take forward.

In relation to Joe Fitzpatrick’s constituency, I know that Dundee City Council is working in partnership with local providers such as the Yard to deliver services that are designed to respond to local needs and to support families who have children with additional support needs—something that has been much discussed at the committee today.

The Yard not only provides activities during the school days and holidays but also supports families through weekend sessions, which provide opportunities for families to come together and play with their children and to meet other families and gain a form of peer support. Such opportunities to come together and garner support from peers—and to share information, although that sounds too formal—are really key for families, especially in our post-pandemic world. Equally, there are opportunities for children’s development and for them to play. The Yard is doing fundamental work, which stretches over and above the services that it carries out—indeed, I know that it has helped to provide additional training to other school-age childcare projects in Dundee, so it has a much further reach than it would appear to have on paper.

The early adopters work has been really positive, and the learning that we will get and the outcomes that we will be able to evaluate from it will be instrumental in improving school-age childcare more generally.

Absolutely. As the member is aware, we have committed to introducing Scotland’s first national transitions to adulthood strategy to ensure that a joined-up approach is taken so that young disabled people who are transitioning to adulthood get the support that they require. I wrote to Ms Duncan-Glancy on that recently. The strategy will be published before summer recess.

We discussed the bill at length the last time that I was at the committee, and I am aware that Liz Smith is here and may want to discuss it during her questioning.

I have been clear about the Government’s position, our support for outdoor education in all its forms and our support of the principles in relation to outdoor education. However, there are very clear concerns about not just affordability but equity of provision as well as the workforce implications. I have been having productive conversations with Ms Smith in person and via correspondence about how she could amend the bill to combat some of the concerns that have been raised by the committee and the Government. I am also looking at non-legislative options that I have been discussing with members, and I am more than happy to discuss those with Mr Mason outside the committee.

I probably cannot go into detail right now because, as Ms Duncan-Glancy would agree, safeguarding children is the most important thing. However, I hear what she says about providers who have been around for a long time potentially facing quite a bit of regulation. I am looking at the legislation and various approaches that we could take to try to strike a more balanced approach. Although I cannot give any more detail on that just now, I will be more than happy to share it with the committee once I have a bit more to say. I reassure Ms Duncan-Glancy that I have heard about the issue directly from a number of school-age childcare providers when I have been out on visits to them, and I am actively working on it.

That is a really important point. I do not want to do local authorities a disservice; there are difficulties. As Mr Adam has stated, challenges arise from the different demographics in our range of 32 local authorities, so it is correct to say that different approaches are being taken. Some local authorities are perhaps further forward in some areas and others in different ones. That is why it is so important that we are able to track progress in relation to the Promise progress framework.

I also want to mention a point that I tend to labour, which is about the importance of sharing best practice. In recent years, I have been to a number of conferences and events where local authorities come together with third sector partners and Government to understand what others are doing and the different approaches that are being taken. Having such opportunities to come together, engage and understand the various approaches is extremely important. Achieving that, in itself, is really good progress.

As I said in reply to Mr Adam’s original point, there are a number of ways to track delivery of the Promise. We are making good progress in ensuring that transformational change is happening through the various approaches being taken at local authority level.

We know how important childminding is to our overall offering of childcare for families. Childminding offers a unique, flexible—as we have discussed this morning—in-home childcare offering. We have worked with the Scottish Childminding Association to undertake a programme to recruit more and support more childminders. That is now in year 2, backed by investment from the Scottish Government, and it is proving popular.

I will perhaps bring in Andrew Watson in a second, because I cannot remember how many local authorities are involved in the programme, but I know that, so far, there has been interest from more than 200 childminders.

I am sure that the committee is aware of some of the pressures that a number of childminders face and some of the difficulties in recruiting and retaining childminders. Therefore, as well as that programme being established to ensure that there is flexibility and quality for families accessing childcare, it is also very important to look at some of the different ways of supporting childminders. That could be with time off the floor to complete paperwork or for mentoring.

A number of actions are being taken. As I said, the programme is in its second year. We are seeing extremely positive impacts, and I feel positive about where it is going.

The increase in ENICs is an extremely difficult issue for the childcare sector. The committee will be aware that UK Government consequentials did not cover funding for the private, voluntary and independent sector. That is expected to add a substantial cost to providers, and representatives of the childcare sector have brought that issue to me directly. I am very disappointed that that decision was made. Across the nations, we are working hard to improve the situation for the childcare sector for families and providers—for those who are out there supporting our children and trying to give them the best start in life—and the increase in ENICs contributions is having huge consequences.

However, we are trying to provide support to the sector in a number of ways. I have already spoken about what we are doing for childminders, but we are supporting private providers in a number of ways as well. We will continue with the actions that we are taking, but, as Mr Kidd rightly pointed out, the increase in ENICs will have a big impact on providers.