Chamber and committees

That point is really interesting. That is a discussion that we should have. This is the beginning. It is certainly the first discussion on the subject in which I have been involved in Parliament. We need to crack down and define that. I really like “life friendly”, which is the phrase that Emma Roddick used, because the matter is not just about MSPs with children; it is also about MSPs with various things going on in their lives.

I appreciate that I am pushing it, Presiding Officer.

Is the member as concerned as I am about the closure of the halls of residence at New College Lanarkshire, given the impact that it could have on students who are trying to access the college?

More than a decade ago, the Scottish Government embarked on its college rationalisation strategy, which resulted in a reduction in the number of colleges from 41 to 26 and the creation of 13 regions. We know from the committee’s report that its members concluded that regionalisation has led to a

“more credible platform to engage with educational and economic partners”

and a better constructed pathway for young people to access colleges, as well as enhancing the voices of students and their student bodies. That is progress that all MSPs can welcome.

However, although progress has been made in the area, it does not excuse the SNP’s mismanagement of higher and further education. Our learning institutions are suffering, as are our students. The SNP’s decisions to cut funding, reduce services and ignore the concerns of trade unions and academics mean that colleges have been left to pick up the mess.

One recent example is New College Lanarkshire in my region. Many talented students, including the likes of Lewis Capaldi, have attended that college, and I am proud that students have chosen Lanarkshire for learning. However, students have been told that they will need to find somewhere else to live, as the Motherwell campus has closed its halls of residence, citing Government cuts. Staff who are impacted by that decision have been offered voluntary redundancy or redeployment, all because the establishment is facing a real-terms cut of £4.3 million.

That impacts not only students who live in the Central Scotland region but young people who live in rural areas. I have had several people contact me since the news broke. One email that I received was from a grandmother who lives in Argyll. She told me that her grandchild, who lives on the same island as her, will not be able to accept their place at Motherwell campus because of the accommodation closure.

I ask members to imagine being a young person in that position: working hard to obtain the grades needed to be accepted for New College Lanarkshire, being told that the halls of residence were there to provide them with safe and secure accommodation and receiving their acceptance letter only to find out that they can no longer go because of Scottish Government cuts. What message does that send to our rural young people who choose to study in urban areas? Is the minister aware of the real-life consequences that cuts to colleges cause for our students?

Is the member concerned about the closure of student accommodation on campuses, particularly at New College Lanarkshire in my region, which has a detrimental impact on young people in rural areas?

The Scottish Government claims that it has one hand tied around its back, yet it is one of the most powerful devolved Governments in the world, if not the most powerful. This is the same Scottish National Party Government that claimed that it could set up an independent country in 18 months, yet it will take nearly nine years for it to fully use devolved welfare powers, after handing responsibility back to the UK Government.

Turning to children in temporary accommodation, organisations such as Shelter Scotland, Poverty Alliance and Crisis have warned ministers about the record number of children in Scotland who are trapped in temporary accommodation. That number is up 120 per cent since 2014. The SNP-Green record on the issue is shameful.

The Scottish Government always tries to pat itself on the back when it comes to tackling child poverty and inequality, but Shelter has said:

“We cannot tolerate inaction any longer. Too many children are paying the price.”

What is the cabinet secretary’s response to that comment, and why has her Government not done enough to support children who are trapped in temporary and emergency accommodation?

That is a bold claim from a minister of the Scottish Government, I have to say.

To add to the woes that the education sector across Lanarkshire faces, it was announced that nurseries at the Coatbridge and Cumbernauld campuses of New College Lanarkshire were also to close. Thirty members of childcare staff were impacted, mostly women, and I was gobsmacked. We face a childcare crisis in Scotland and nearly 30 early years practitioners were told that their place of work was shutting its doors.

I completely agree, but then again, as I said, it was bold of the minister to talk to the Conservatives about financial mismanagement. [Interruption.] SNP members need only look at their own Government.

I turn back to the real concerns. The minister laughing about the serious issues that I am trying to raise is completely disrespectful to the people they are affecting. Staff are devastated by the announcement of the closure of the nurseries, not just because they are going to lose their jobs, but also for the children and their parents who might not be able to continue with their college courses. Those are the real impacts that cuts have on our college estates.

Regretfully, those are not the only local challenges that I will share today. Back in April, it was announced that New College Lanarkshire will leave the Hamilton campus when the lease expires in July. That will be another blow to Hamilton town centre, following the closure of the University of the West of Scotland on Almada Street some years earlier. All the recent discussions at New College Lanarkshire resulted in a reduction in staff. Unison has launched an online petition calling on the education secretary to intervene in the crisis that is engulfing the further education sector in Scotland.

There is a crisis in our nurseries, a crisis in our schools and a crisis in our universities and colleges. The SNP will try to give itself a pat on the back today because of the positive messaging in the committee report, but the state of Scottish education in general is bleak. That is a symptom, as Stephen Kerr rightly pointed out, but there is a cure. The cure has to be worked on together through cross-party policy working. If Stephen Kerr had had the time today, I am sure that he would have been able to share some of the policies that we propose.

I will close with a plea to the Scottish Government and the minister. Stop squandering money by making bad choices in voting through bad law. Make good choices by investing in our higher and further education, so that young people, such as the young person from a rural community whom I mentioned, can go to a college of their choice to study a course that will give them the foundations to succeed.

Will the minister take an intervention?

Since being elected to the Parliament, I have raised concerns about an emerging childcare crisis. The SNP Government has done nothing to fix the problems in our childcare sector. Now, more than 8,000 nursery and childcare staff have taken sick leave because of stress or mental health concerns. Those absences are indicative of a childcare crisis, with more than nine in 10 councils being unable to fully fund free childcare.

Nurseries are closing their doors, and parents are without childcare for their children. Audit Scotland has even said that the sector is fragile.

Early years practitioners, who are children’s first educators, are being let down by the Government. Will the First Minister meet me and nursery providers to discuss the 1,140 hour policy, given that he expressed interest in expanding it as part of his leadership bid?

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s position is regarding recent reports that suggest there is a mental health crisis emerging in the early years sector. (S6F-02199)