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Chamber and committees

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 6 February 2025
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Displaying 433 contributions

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Meeting of the Parliament

Portfolio Question Time

Meeting date: 21 March 2024

Meghan Gallacher

I am afraid that it is broken promise after broken promise—from failing to close the poverty-related attainment gap to the roll-out of free school meals. Parents, teachers and pupils will now remember the SNP as the Government that stole the weans’ IT. Although I appreciate that the cabinet secretary was not in post at the time when the Government promised a free laptop to every school pupil, will she tell members why the Government promised something that it knew it would never be able to deliver?

Meeting of the Parliament

First Minister’s Question Time

Meeting date: 21 March 2024

Meghan Gallacher

In May last year, I asked the First Minister about the prescription of puberty blockers to children. He said:

“I support such decisions being made by clinicians—by the people who have clinical knowledge ... We should trust those who have clinical expertise, as opposed to standing here in the chamber ... making judgments about what is best for young people who need gender identity services.”—[Official Report, 18 May 2023; c 25.]

The truth of the matter is that we do not know whether puberty blockers have long-term life-changing consequences for young people who take them. That is why NHS England is conducting a review.

Will the First Minister publish all the evidence that his Government has that puberty blockers are safe for children? If his Government does not have any evidence, why is he allowing national health service boards to prescribe them?

Meeting of the Parliament

Portfolio Question Time

Meeting date: 21 March 2024

Meghan Gallacher

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the roll-out of free digital devices to school pupils. (S6O-03235)

Meeting of the Parliament

First Minister’s Question Time

Meeting date: 21 March 2024

Meghan Gallacher

To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government will engage with NHS Scotland on ending the prescription of puberty-suppressing hormones to children, following the recent announcement by NHS England. (S6F-02948)

Meeting of the Parliament

Addressing Child Poverty Through Parental Employment

Meeting date: 14 March 2024

Meghan Gallacher

Does the minister agree that the cost of childcare is also contributing to that? Will she give an update on where the Government is with its expansion of free childcare?

Meeting of the Parliament

Portfolio Question Time

Meeting date: 14 March 2024

Meghan Gallacher

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce social housing waiting lists for disabled people. (S6O-03202)

Meeting of the Parliament

Addressing Child Poverty Through Parental Employment

Meeting date: 14 March 2024

Meghan Gallacher

Through its childcare expansion programme, the Government has created a system in which, when it comes to setting the rates, councils are both banker and competitor. Private, voluntary and independent nurseries are closing their doors. How on earth can the minister talk about the expansion of childcare and the importance of childcare when the Government does not have the right policy for it?

Meeting of the Parliament

Addressing Child Poverty Through Parental Employment

Meeting date: 14 March 2024

Meghan Gallacher

Will Miles Briggs give way?

Meeting of the Parliament

Addressing Child Poverty Through Parental Employment

Meeting date: 14 March 2024

Meghan Gallacher

I am going to start with an incredibly cheesy line. My mum and dad are my heroes. They taught me so many important life skills when I was growing up, but especially they taught me that hard work pays off. That has always stuck with me. Working hard, getting a job and getting yourself into a position where you are financially secure is what most people want in life.

Becoming a parent in 2022 gave me the most important job that I will ever have. However, with the joy of watching your children grow up comes the realisation that you will need to work to provide for them. Parents right across Scotland understand that. There is no other way.

We are living in a completely different world from what generations before me and others experienced. Traditionally, the mum would stay at home and look after the kids while the dad went out to work, but, with the global cost of living crisis, most parents do not have the option to choose that sort of lifestyle any more. That is why work has become integral to tackling child poverty.

Parents should inspire not just their children but themselves. Getting yourself a good, well-paid job with opportunities is the best way to give your child the best possible start in life. That is the ethos that my parents taught me, and that will be the ethos that I pass on to my daughter should she ever wish to start a family.

There are many areas that we could touch on in this debate, as the topic is so broad and it crosses so many portfolios. Unsurprisingly, however, given the interactions that I have already had, I will focus on childcare. I am passionate about that, not just because I am a new mum who is navigating the childcare sector, but because parents need this Government to give them the tools that they need to succeed. That is why I back the roll-out of expanded free childcare here, in Scotland, and in the rest of the UK. It is staggering how much parents pay for childcare in Scotland. At one point, I was paying well over £500 a month, but my eyes watered when I was told first hand by parents that some have to pay well over £1,000 per child per month. That is a whole whack of a parent’s salary gone.

There are then the added costs of gas, electricity, council tax, food shopping, phone and internet bills and all the other cost pressures that an average household faces. It is no wonder that some parents decide not to work or to reduce their hours to balance childcare and family income. Parents have told me that, after their first child, they might not be able to afford a second. With the number of babies that are expected to be born over the next decade in freefall, we need to make it easier for mums and dads to raise a family.

Meeting of the Parliament

Addressing Child Poverty Through Parental Employment

Meeting date: 14 March 2024

Meghan Gallacher

I was hoping that the debate would not descend into politicking, but we are descending into politicking. It is a shame that the Scottish Government is doing that when we are trying to encourage parents into work so that we can try to eradicate child poverty.

Some members in the chamber this afternoon will tell me that the current childcare expansion is a huge success, that there are no problems and that parents love being able to access 1,140 hours of free childcare. However, Willie Rennie made the important point that, although parents enjoy the childcare affordability just now, there are serious problems coming down the track.