Chamber and committees

I have discussed the draft bill’s proposals with Ms Smith on several occasions, most recently earlier this year, and I will continue to do so over the coming weeks and months following the bill’s formal introduction, which I believe is imminent.

As with any new legislative proposal, all stakeholder views must be taken into account and the full range of consequences and costs must be explored. On that note, I had a fantastic visit to the Outward Bound Trust at Loch Eil, where I heard at first hand the benefits of that form of outdoor education and spoke directly to some of the young people who were benefiting from it.

In relation to the proposed member’s bill, although the Government will give any draft bill its full consideration, we will reserve our final position until the bill is introduced.

Universities are playing a really important role. A good example of that is Queen Margaret University’s new outdoor learning hub, which my colleague Graeme Dey, the Minister for Higher and Further Education, opened earlier this week. Further examples are the courses that are offered by universities including Queen Margaret University, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Stirling and the University of the Highlands and Islands. We are working with colleges and universities and the General Teaching Council for Scotland to develop a new national framework for initial teacher training that embeds learning for sustainability.

As I already mentioned, operational decisions on resourcing and staffing matters are for individual institutions, and ministers have no direct role in those decisions.

The Minister for Higher and Further Education wrote to college principals last year to reiterate the importance that the Scottish Government places on use of fair work practices in the college sector. He made it clear that he expects that to include full consultation of staff and trade unions, and that colleges should create the time and space to exhaust all options for redeployment.

I absolutely agree that more than a decade of Westminster austerity has had a simply devastating impact on the public finances. [Interruption.] I hear the groans from Conservative members, but that is absolutely correct. The fact that austerity is now supported by Labour and the Tories only confirms that the Westminster parties are not working for Scotland.

Despite the United Kingdom Government’s autumn statement delivering a worst-case scenario for Scotland’s finances, we will continue to invest in key services and priorities. The 2024-25 budget allocates nearly £2 billion to colleges and universities, thereby supporting delivery of high-quality education, training and research.

The Minister for Higher and Further Education; and Minister for Veterans meets the campus unions biannually and meets regularly with representatives of the sector in a number of forums. As he committed to doing, in the chamber just last week, he will continue to engage with both management and unions, as and when appropriate, as they continue to work together to reach a settlement that is both fair and affordable.

The minister continues to make clear his expectation that college management and unions should work together to do everything that they can do to reach a settlement that is both fair and affordable.

The fair work first criteria set out a range of fair work practices, including

“payment of ... the real Living Wage ... no inappropriate use of zero hours contracts”;

the offering of

“flexible and family friendly working practices”;

and

“investment in workforce development”.

We expect the fair work first criteria to be upheld.

With regard to the specific issue that Katy Clark has raised, the matter is for colleges, and ministers have no direct role in it. In circumstances in which deductions are to be made, colleges must ensure that employees are reminded in advance of their contractual obligations, and that they are advised as to where taking action short of a strike is considered to be a breach of contract.

It would not be appropriate for me to intervene directly in the internal decision-making processes of an individual local authority in relation to the delivery of ELC. However, I expect any changes to service delivery in any local authority to be made in line with statutory duties and to take account of the Scottish Government and local government’s shared aims of ELC expansion.

Those shared aims are reflected in the statutory guidance, and our latest funding follows the child operating guidance, which was delivered jointly with COSLA. I encourage neighbouring councils to work together to ensure that publicly funded services meet the needs of families and prioritise children’s wellbeing, including those who need cross-boundary placements. I will continue to monitor the situation.

In 2024-25, the Scottish Government will continue to invest around £1 billion to fund local authorities to provide 1,140 hours a year of high-quality funded early learning and childcare to all eligible children.

We are also investing an additional £16 million in-year to deliver our commitment to enable childcare workers delivering funded ELC in private and third sector services to be paid at least £12 per hour from 24 April. Alongside that, we will expand our childminder recruitment and retention pilots and progress work with the six early adopter communities in Clackmannanshire, Dundee, Fife, Glasgow, Inverclyde and Shetland to develop local systems of funded childcare for those families who need it most.

We understand that the needs of parents, families and children in different areas across the country are very distinct. In our six early adopter areas, we are diving into what families need. We are working with families, children and providers to understand what is required in those local areas and to help us to build our future system of childcare. Flexibility is a key part of that.

I start by saying how much I value the work and efforts of our PVI sector in delivering funded childcare.

The average rate paid by local authorities to providers for delivering ELC has increased by 64.1 per cent since 2017. However, there is still variation across Scotland, and I have been clear that, where improvements can be made to the rate-setting process, I want such improvements to be made. I am committed to working with the sector on that, and will continue to look for opportunities to do so and to strengthen the current system.

In December, the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities published our joint review of the process for setting sustainable rates, which recommends actions to drive improvement. I am wholly positive that we will see exactly such improvement out of that process.

On top of that, we are working with the sector to provide further support for that £12 per hour commitment, and I will continue to work with stakeholders to consider whether wider actions could be taken to further strengthen and improve the rate-setting process.