Chamber and committees

There is a difference, though, between sustainable rates and fair rates. Surely, it is just not fair that people get paid much less for doing the exactly the same job. You cannot accept that that is a satisfactory position.

I have a final question. Now that we have sorted it out with the UK Government, when will 100 per cent of eligible two-year-olds access their provision?

We will accept that.

Yes. There is a general concern about the pace of reform, because it feels very slow. I know that you could come up with an explanation as to why that is so, but, when we have a pretty drastic situation—as reported by the OECD and with heavy criticism from the Stobart review—there is an expectation that we should move a bit faster. What will we get in May? How quickly will the report’s recommendations be implemented?

I started by talking about marginal improvement in the performance; Kaukab Stewart said that it could be better, which is maybe a fairer way of presenting it. We have a slow process of reform, and we are uncertain about what will happen after the Hayward review. Children who started school when Nicola Sturgeon made that promise in 2016 will have left by the time that we see any potential real benefit. That cannot be satisfactory. Does that really give hope to young people that the Government is on their side?

I have one final question.

It is not really a question—

But the success is not a result of the reforms. The reforms were established because of a crisis, and we have not really seen them happen, so you cannot really claim credit for those areas of improvement. I recognise that there are improvements, but we set up those reforms in response to a critical report and nothing much has happened. That is not good enough, is it?

I have one final question, which is about research. Scotland used to punch well above its weight in that area, and we still do, but not as much as we used to. We used to get 15 per cent of the UK research councils’ funding each year, but that amount has now dropped to 12.5 per cent. Why has that happened?

The minister cannot be happy that we pay workers two different pay rates for doing exactly the same job. Workers who happen to be in the unfortunate position of working in a private sector nursery are paid much less than those in council nurseries. That cannot be right, can it?