Chamber and committees

I thank Meghan Gallacher for bringing the debate to the chamber.

In November, I met Graeme McAlister, the chief executive officer of the Scottish Childminding Association, who raised some very important issues surrounding the future and welfare of childminders in Scotland.

The childminder workforce in Scotland has now declined by 30 per cent, and with that we have seen the loss of more than 10,000 childminding places for families. As the number of places drops and the cost of childcare rises, many families find themselves unable either to afford childcare or to find it. We cannot allow that situation to continue.

There is currently not enough support offered to the childminding workforce in Scotland, and the sector is under pressure, with a lack of trained professionals available to fill much-needed positions. Childminding is a vital and valuable industry, but the childminding workforce requires significant support to carry it through the current decline.

Many in the workforce are reporting that delivering the funded early learning and childcare hours has caused a significant increase in paperwork. That has resulted in many childminders undertaking an additional, and unpaid, five-plus hours of paperwork each week, resulting in a loss of focus on the child.

Childminders who were previously providing funded childcare hours are no longer choosing to do so because of an unsustainable amount of paperwork. The provision of funded childcare hours must continue, but the Scottish Government needs to ensure that it is supporting the workforce to do that.

Even more alarmingly, 60 per cent of childminders who were surveyed believed that they would have to reduce their heating settings this winter, when children are present in their homes. It is shocking that some are considering switching off their heating when their own families are present, let alone when their home is open for their childminding business during the day. Only 13 per cent of childminders said that they believe that they can pay themselves the living wage and almost all respondents reported that they worked extra unpaid hours every week. That statistic is deeply concerning.

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost of living crisis is putting this vital industry at risk. It is time for the Scottish Government to recognise the pressures on the childminding workforce in Scotland. Underpaying and overworking this integral sector will never allow it to flourish. The Scottish Government must take measures to encourage and support the much-needed recruitment of childminders and demonstrate that it values Scotland’s children and the dedicated workers who care for them.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. My app did not connect. I would have voted yes.

Good morning. I had a question on accommodation and homelessness, but the cabinet secretary has already answered it. Convener, can I go on to theme 4, which is on refugees and asylum seekers?

Thank you. What support can be offered to non-Ukrainian refugees and asylum seekers—particularly those who have no recourse to public funds because of their immigration status—to ensure equal rights for all refugees and asylum seekers in Scotland?

Thank you very much.

I thank the committee for giving me this opportunity to come and speak to you all.

I am disappointed that it has taken a year to come back to this petition. Within that year, as you have probably heard, many accidents have happened and quite a lot of deaths linked to swimming-related issues have taken place. That is probably one reason that quite a lot of constituents have come to us to say that they want us to make sure that learning to swim is in the curriculum and that school students are taught that skill.

You have mentioned the minister’s comments. I wonder whether the committee could invite the minister and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to say why they feel that learning to swim should not be in the school curriculum. I would request the committee to leave the petition open for further consideration.

I have said the majority of the relevant stuff previously—nothing has changed since my previous presentation, and I am in your hands. We have been speaking to schools and schools also feel that, if it is in the curriculum, students will learn to swim.

I have spoken in the chamber previously about the importance of educating children on Scotland’s ties with colonialism and the role that black and minority ethnic people have had in Scotland’s colonial past. Currently, it is not compulsory for schools in Scotland to educate students of any age on Scotland’s colonial past and its role in the British empire and the transatlantic slave trade. Mandatory primary education on such matters would ensure that, from a young age, children have a realistic understanding of Scotland’s history, what has been done to overcome that, and how we can strive to improve that in the future. Does the cabinet secretary agree that a mandatory primary curriculum on Scotland’s history of colonisation, slavery and empire is essential to ensure that all children receive an education that redresses historical inequality and supports the growth of our progressive and diverse nation?

Multiple constituents have approached me, as parents, with their concerns about how schools are treating their child with autism and the impact that that has on their child’s mental health. What action is the Scottish Government taking to ensure that children with autism are offered sufficient mental health support in school and that safeguards exist against poor practice?

In June 2022, I asked the First Minister what action the Scottish Government would take to support police officers who were struggling with the cost of living crisis. The First Minister responded by saying:

“we will continue to value them not just in rhetoric but in action.”—[Official Report, 30 June 2022; c 21.]

Will the cabinet secretary please outline what action has since been taken to support police officers with the cost of living crisis to mitigate the potential impact of financial strain on their mental health?

Will the minister please advise members of the Scottish Government’s plans to ensure that Historic Environment Scotland’s properties will be able to open to a sufficient degree to allow HES’s revenue to rise as predicted in the budget?