Chamber and committees

The overall financial settlement for local government supports local authorities to deliver the current pre-school entitlement of 475 hours per annum for 3 and 4 year olds.

Local authorities do not have a statutory responsibility to provide childcare beyond this, although a range of family support, early learning and childcare services are delivered by local authorities in partnership with other agencies.

Central Government provided local authorities with funding for childcare through the Revenue Support Grant, as part of the Childcare Strategy, from 1999-2008. As a result we do not hold published expenditure detail that would allow the identification of final provision for childcare during this period.

Information on the local government settlement is contained within an annual circular from national government. Circulars for each of the years since 1999 can be viewed at the following link:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/local-government/17999/11203.

From 2008-09, as part of the Concordat with local government, funding was rolled up into the block grant provided to local authorities. It is the responsibility of each local authority as an independent corporate body to manage its own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to it on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled its statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities. As such it is for local authorities, as part of their overall financial management, to take their own decisions on the level of support for childcare.

The Scottish Government held a National Summit with businesses on 28 June 2012 to explore what more they could do to deliver flexible, family friendly policies. A report will be produced in due course outlining the main themes which emerged from the Summit.

The Scottish Government is also committed to developing a series of Public Social Partnerships, or PSPs, to develop and pilot early learning and childcare services in areas of particular or unmet need, such as:

parents on low income or in poverty

parents who work shifts

out of school care

rurality issues.

The Scottish Government has met with the national grouping of Childcare Partnership Officers (which is now called the Early Years and Childcare Officers Group) – on the following dates since 2007:

8 November 2007

9 November 2009

22 March 2010

17 January 2011

14 November 2011

23 April 2012

In addition, a representative from the Scottish Government has also attended a number of meetings of the Early Years and Childcare officer workgroup, comprising eight representatives from four regional groups, which meet approx three times per year. We do not hold figures on the dates on which Scottish Government officials have attended these meetings since 2007.

No. The Scottish Government’s proposal for constitutional reform is not about “separation”, but independence. In November 2013, the Scottish Government will publish a comprehensive white paper detailing all of the relevant issues, ensuring the people of Scotland are fully informed in order that they can make an authoritative and knowledgeable decision about Scotland’s constitutional future.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-05459 on 5 March 2012. The head of state of an independent Scotland would not be represented by a governor general.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The Scottish Government's proposal for Scotland is not "separation", but independence, as stated in answer to question S4W-05459 on 5 March 2012. I also refer the member to the answer to question S4W-02136 from 26 August 2011.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The Scottish Government has maintained the International Development Fund at £9 million per year for the duration of the spending review period. In 2011-12 this was supplemented by proceeds of crime money to provide a total expenditure on Official Development Assistance of £10,029,156.72 set against a total Scottish Government budget of £28.007 billion. This represented 0.00036% of the total Scottish Government budget in 2011-12.

The Scottish Government's proposal for Scotland is not "separation", but independence, as stated in answer to question S4W-05459 on 5 March 2012. I also refer the member to the answer to question S4W-02136 from 26 August 2011.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The Early Years Taskforce has published its shared vision and priorities, which includes initial guidance for Community Planning Partnerships on the Early Years Change Fund. This paper is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 54022).

Further guidance will be provided for Community Planning Partnerships by the Early Years Taskforce by the end of the year.