Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-28667

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 22 July 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what measures are being implemented to provide disability equality training to childcare providers, in order to ensure that they can meet the needs of disabled children effectively.

Question reference: S6W-28666

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 22 July 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to support disabled parents in accessing childcare services in order to ensure that they can participate fully in the labour market and community life.

Question reference: S6W-28663

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 22 July 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it is working to integrate inclusive education policies with accessible childcare initiatives to create a cohesive support system for disabled children from early years through to school age

Question reference: S6W-28664

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 22 July 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that childcare services are accessible to disabled children and their families, particularly in relation to (a) physical accessibility and (b) availability of specialised care.

Question reference: S6W-28665

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 22 July 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has for increasing investment in accessible childcare facilities for disabled children, and how any such plans align with the recommendations from the Glasgow Disability Alliance (GDA) Manifesto 2024.

Question reference: S6W-27861

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 12 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many nurseries have cancelled their registrations with the Care Inspectorate since 2016.

The Scottish Government does not hold specific data on the number of nurseries which have cancelled their registrations with the Care Inspectorate since 2016. However, the Care Inspectorate publishes data each year on its website. This data shows that, between 1 January 2017 and 30 April 2024, 1,000 day care of children settings cancelled their registration. This figure will include nurseries as well as other types of day care of children settings.

It is important to note that a cancelled registration does not always mean that the service is no longer operating but can reflect other factors such as a change in ownership.

Source: Care Inspectorate Cancelled Services, Changes to registration, variations and cancelled services (careinspectorate.com)

Question reference: S6W-27863

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 11 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what long-term strategies are being developed to ensure the financial viability and sustainability of nurseries.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting a diverse, sustainable and thriving childcare sector.

For those providers in the private and third sector, including childminders, who deliver funded early learning and childcare (ELC) the payment of sustainable rates by local authorities is vital to supporting their financial sustainability and to enabling the delivery of high quality ELC. Rates have increased substantially since the implementation of the ELC expansion to 1140 hours – with the average rate paid by local authorities to providers for delivering funded ELC to 3-5 year olds increasing by 64.1% between 2017 and 2023, from £3.68 per hour in 2017-18 to £6.04 per hour in 2023-24.

However, while the average rate has increased, there remains variation in the rates paid across Scotland. That is why the Scottish Government will continue to look for opportunities to strengthen the current system, including taking forward the recommendations of the joint Scottish Government and COSLA Review of Sustainable Rates Early learning and childcare: sustainable rates review - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) , published in December 2023. The evidence-based review recommends a wide-ranging set of actions, which are currently being progressed, to strengthen the process for setting rates.

In 2024-25 the Scottish Government has provided local authorities with an additional £16 million to enable staff delivering funded ELC in the private, and third sector to be paid at least £12 per hour from April 2024. To support this commitment joint Scottish Government and COSLA guidance Funding Follows the Child and the National Standard - Funded early learning and childcare (ELC) - setting sustainable rates 2024 to 2025: guidance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) sets out our shared commitment to increasing rates for all funded ELC providers by at least 7.6% in 2024-25.

To support the sustainability of the overall childcare sector the Scottish Government has legislated to continue the Nursery Rates Relief Scheme, which provides 100 per cent relief on Non-Domestic Rates to eligible day nurseries; made more than £35 million of dedicated financial support available to providers during the pandemic; and funded pilot programmes of targeted Business Gateway support to enable childcare providers to access tailored, specialist advice on strengthening their businesses.

As set out in Best Start: Strategic early learning and school age childcare plan for Scotland 2022-26 (careinspectorate.com) we will maintain a robust but proportionate means of monitoring the financial sustainability of the childcare sector to ensure that both national and local policy is informed by up to date evidence about the health of the sector. This includes through the Financial Sustainability Health Checks. The most recent Financial Sustainability Health Check of the Childcare Sector in Scotland - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) was published on 31 July 2023 and sets out a programme of actions, across a number of areas, to support the long-term sustainability of the sector.

Question reference: S6W-27860

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 11 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many nurseries have closed since 2016, broken down by local authority area.

The Scottish Government does not hold specific data on the number of nursery closures by local authority area. However, the Care Inspectorate publishes data each year in the Early Learning and Childcare Statistics publication that sets out changes across different types of childcare settings at a national level. This shows an increase in the number of nurseries from 2,468 in 2016 to 2,538 in 2022 (a 3% increase). This figure will be affected by both closures and openings of new settings.

Source: Care Inspectorate, Early Learning and Childcare Statistics 2016.pdf (careinspectorate.com) and Early learning and childcare statistics 2022.pdf (careinspectorate.com) .

Question reference: S6W-27862

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 11 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what early warning systems are in place to identify any nurseries that are at risk of closure due to financial difficulties or staffing shortages.

Under Funding Follows the Child, all nurseries who deliver funded early learning and childcare (ELC) must, as part of the criteria in the National Standard for all ELC providers Section 2: The National Standard for all Early Learning and Childcare Providers - Funding Follows The Child and The National Standard for Early Learning and Childcare Providers: Operating Guidance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) , be able to demonstrate that they are financially viable providers and that they have a sustainable staffing structure in place which meets the recommended adult: child ratios.

Local authorities are responsible for assessing and monitoring compliance with the National Standard in all funded providers, as part of their contract management arrangements and in their role as guarantors of quality. With regards to business sustainability, services delivering funded ELC must ensure that they are able to demonstrate – when required – that their business model continues to be financially viable through the provision of appropriate financial information, for example, accounts and business forecasts/projections. A Business Continuity Plan must also be in place.

If a service delivering funded ELC was at risk of closure due to financial difficulties or staffing shortages then it is expected that they would make their local authority aware of these challenges.

The Scottish Government monitors trends in sustainability and staffing across the overall childcare sector, including through the Financial Sustainability Health Checks. Analysis in the most recent Financial Sustainability Health Check: Financial Sustainability Health Check of the Childcare Sector in Scotland - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) published on 31 July 2023, reported that annual cancellation rates for private and third sector services over the period March 2020 to March 2023 were at similar levels to previous years.

Question reference: S6T-02027

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 June 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it remains its position to have a target of 60% of household waste recycled annually by 2020, in light of reports that the target is being dropped.