Chamber and committees

Again, I think that that question strays into the territory of the health portfolio. The “Review of additional support for learning implementation: report”, which was published in 2020, set out a clear direction of how we can continue to build on our progress, and it made recommendations on how to improve the implementation of additional support for learning, which is vital for those young people.

We published our joint action plan with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland in October 2020, which set out the measures that we will take to implement those recommendations. Last November, we published our second progress report and an updated action plan, which highlights that 24 of the 76 recommendations have been completed and that the rest are under way.

I hope that that gives the member some reassurance about the work that is being done in the education portfolio, but, if he wishes to pick up on other areas that are covered by my colleagues in health, I am more than happy to get them to write to him.

In March 2021, following a review, the Scottish Government published “Learning/Intellectual Disability and Autism: Towards Transformation”. Our plan looks at the actions that are needed to shape supports, services and attitudes to ensure that the human rights of autistic people and people with learning or intellectual disabilities are respected and protected. The plan includes a range of actions across the lifespan, including actions related to education, restraint and seclusion, health, post-diagnostic support, social care and employment.

In September 2021, we published the national neurodevelopmental specification for children and young people. It sets out seven standards for service providers to ensure that children and young people who have neurodevelopmental profiles receive the support that they need. Those cover autism and ADHD.

ADHD affects 5 to 7 per cent of the population, and co-occurrence across neurodevelopmental conditions is the norm. We know from research that 50 to 70 per cent of autistic people also present with ADHD, and that 20 to 50 per cent of children with ADHD also meet the criteria for autism.

I think that we are straying into territory that is under the portfolio responsibilities of my colleagues in health. I will ask the Minister for Mental Wellbeing and Social Care to respond directly to the points that the member raises about health board pathways.

However, I can say that Scottish Government policies take a wide developmental approach that is inclusive of people with a range of conditions, including autism, learning disabilities, ADHD and fetal alcohol syndrome. We fund the national autism implementation team as a key partner, and it supports us with policy development across health and social care, as well as in education.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I could not connect to the app. I would have voted yes.

Scotland’s childcare workforce increased by 7,750 posts between 2016 and 2021 to deliver our transformational investment in 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare. Unlike in other parts of the United Kingdom, the overwhelming majority of funded providers in Scotland pay at least the real living wage.

However, I recognise that, as is the case in many areas of the economy, there are workforce challenges in the childcare sector, and we are committed to working with the sector to address them. That is why we are working with our partners to develop a strategic framework for Scotland’s childcare profession. The framework, which we will publish in the new year, will set out priorities for action across key areas, including recruitment and retention of staff.

Of course, Mr Marra will be aware that local authorities have a legal duty to ensure that every child can access a place, no matter where they reside. If Mr Marra wants to write to me with the details of that particular nursery, I will be happy to have my officials look into the difficulties that those parents are experiencing.

I am sure that Mr Rennie is aware that our funding agreement with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities allows councils to pay sustainable rates for funded ELC hours to private and third sector providers and childminders. The joint Scottish Government and COSLA guidance, which was published in May this year, is clear that rates should reflect up-to-date information on the costs of delivery, provide scope for reinvestment and enable delivery of the real living wage commitment.

Although the funding to providers in the third, private and childminding sectors is an important element of local authority ELC budgets, that funding must also cover a wide range of other costs. For example, as I said in response to Mr Marra’s question, local authorities have a legal duty to ensure that every child can access a place, no matter where they live, and they must provide services that would not be commercially viable for other providers.

For Mr Rennie’s information, on average, the funding to private and voluntary providers for 1,140 hours of funded ELC equates to between 33 and 45 per cent of their income.

We are committed to building a vibrant, thriving childminding sector and to promoting childminding, along with other roles across the early learning and childcare sector, as a valued and fulfilling career choice. We welcome the SCMA’s annual audit and the updated evidence that it gives us with regard to the involvement of childminders in funded ELC. We want to encourage more people into childminding, and we are working with the Scottish Childminding Association and other partners to address the decline in the childminding workforce—a trend that is mirrored elsewhere in the UK. We also want new childminding services to develop in areas with limited access to this form of ELC, and that is why we are supporting a recruitment pilot, led by the SCMA and partners, that aims to recruit and train 100 new childminders in remote and rural areas.

I will certainly try to be brief.

We are committed to supporting a sustainable, diverse and thriving childcare sector and, alongside maintaining a robust but proportionate means of monitoring the financial sustainability of the sector, we are providing support through providing the funding to allow councils to pay sustainable rates to private and third sector providers and to childminders for the delivery of funded ELC; legislating to continue the nursery rates relief scheme, which provides 100 per cent relief on non-domestic rates to eligible day nurseries beyond 13 June 2023; and progressing the actions that are set out in the financial sustainability health check, including funding pilot programmes of targeted business gateway support, which will be available to all childcare services.

The recruitment and retention of a childcare workforce with the right skills, values and attributes remains a priority. Given the tight labour market, that is a key challenge. We have taken a number of actions to support recruitment and retention in the childcare workforce, including providing funding to local authorities to enable them to set local sustainable rates; working with the Scottish Social Services Council to invite those whose registrations have lapsed in recent years to rejoin the sector; providing resources to support recruitment to all parts of the sector; and working with partners on childminder-specific recruitment programmes.