Free childcare good for families and for public finances - STUC Women's Committee

 8 May 2013

STUC Women’s Committee on Scottish Parliament Childcare Debate

Speaking prior to this afternoons debate on Childcare in the Scottish Parliament, Eileen Dinning (UNISON), the Chair of the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) Women’s Committee, said

“Free childcare would boost the economy and support families to lift them out of poverty, as evidenced by the report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) ‘Making the Case for Universal Childcare’. 

 

"Making childcare free at the point of use would be good for families and for public finances as universal childcare would bring a net return to the government of £20,050 over four years for every woman who returned to work after one year of maternity leave.”

 

ENDS

S4M-06475 Hugh Henry: Childcare—That the Parliament agrees that good quality, affordable childcare is essential to support hard-working families; welcomes the proposed extension of fully-funded early years provision to 600 hours and believes that it is essential that this has a clear educational underpinning; notes the financial and logistical challenges of extending childcare across Scotland and believes that all parties should work to reach a consensus on delivery, availability, affordability and financing of a comprehensive childcare strategy, and believes that a Scottish childcare commission with all-party support should be established to investigate and make recommendations on the expansion of affordable quality childcare across Scotland.

The Presiding Officer has selected the following amendment

S4M-06475.1 Aileen Campbell: Childcare—As an amendment to motion S4M-06475 in the name of Hugh Henry (Childcare), leave out from third “and believes” to end and insert “; also notes the work of the Early Years Taskforce, which brings together practitioners, professionals and politicians from different parties to inform the strategic development of early years policy, including early learning and childcare; further notes the Scottish Government’s commitment to legislate via the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill to introduce flexibility into childcare provision and the help that this will provide in matching childcare to the circumstances of individual families, and further welcomes the forthcoming work by the Council of Economic Advisers to look at the best models of delivery and funding for Scotland and the associated economic and social impact of moving to the levels of support for childcare that is commonplace in other European countries

See STUC website

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