Parliamentary questions
Martin Whitfield
543 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
22 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, as part of its work to further the case for Scottish independence, what assessment it has made of the potential administrative burden that could be placed on small Scottish exporters in the event that cross-border trade between an independent Scotland and the rest of the UK required cus…
Answer · Angus Robertson: Scottish Government Officials and Ministers regularly engage with Scottish business representatives to inform policy. Engagement with businesses in Scotland informed the production of the BANS series, including Building a New Scotland: A stronger economy with…
22 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, as part of its work to further the case for Scottish independence, what assessment it has made of what potential reduction in trade volumes for the (a) whisky, (b) meat and (c) dairy sector could result from any introduction of a hard border between an independent Scotland and the rest …
Answer · Angus Robertson: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-38005 on 25 June 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/…
22 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, as part of its work to further the case for Scottish independence, what recent estimate it has made of the potential reduction in Scotland’s trade volume with the rest of the UK in the event of customs checks at the border in an independent Scotland.
Answer · Angus Robertson: Building a New Scotland: A stronger economy with independence (October 2022) provides details on trade with the rest of the UK following Independence.The nature of the border between an independent Scotland as an EU member state and the UK will depend on neg…
22 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is on (a) how many border inspection points would be required along the Anglo-Scottish border and (b) where any such inspection points would be located, in an independent Scotland.
Answer · Angus Robertson: Building a New Scotland: A stronger economy with independence (October 2022) provides details on trade with the rest of the UK following Independence.The paper outlines that any actual physical checks on goods would likely only be undertaken on the main trunk…
22 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, as part of its work to further the case for Scottish independence, whether it has (a) sought and (b) received any legal advice on its potential ability to allow an independent Scotland to avoid any border checks with the rest of the UK while applying EU single market rules, and, if so, …
Answer · Angus Robertson: Building a New Scotland: A stronger economy with independence (October 2022) provides details on trade with the rest of the UK following Independence.The nature of the border between an independent Scotland as an EU member state and the UK will depend on nego…
21 May 2025 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the new report from the Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland, Whole person medical care: The value of the General Practitioner.
20 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many hours of funded continuous professional development have been accessed by early learning and childcare staff in each of the last three years.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: Until June 2024, daycare of children staff registered with the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC)were required to complete a minimum of 60 hours — or 10 days — of Continuous Professional Learning (CPL) over each 5-year registration period. Th…
20 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to publish updated metrics on early learning and childcare workforce development, including qualifications, turnover and access to training.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: According to the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001, the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) is responsible for producing and publishing data and intelligence on the social services workforce in Scotland, including the early learning and childcare wor…
20 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it has responded to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD’s) reported findings on the importance of staff qualifications and working conditions in delivering high-quality early years provision.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: The Scottish Government recognises that the single most important driver of the quality of a child’s early learning and childcare(ELC) experience is a highly skilled, highly qualified workforce.It is widely acknowledged, including by the Organisation fo…
20 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what (a) financial and (b) logistical support is currently available to practitioners seeking to upskill through formal early learning and childcare qualifications.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: The Scottish Government provides a range of financial and logistical support to early learning and childcare (ELC) practitioners seeking to upskill through formal qualifications.(a) Financial SupportIn 2024-25, the Scottish Government allocated over £8 …
20 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has undertaken any analysis of child development outcomes in settings led by graduate-level staff, compared with those without.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: The Scottish Government has not undertaken any such analysis. However, research undertaken by Public Health Scotland shows that the best experiences for children are found where professionals hold higher-level qualifications specific to early childhood, or th…
20 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many practitioners have exited the early learning and childcare sector in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) qualification level and (b) local authority area.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: This information is not available broken down by qualification level or local authority.I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37812 on 4 June 2025.All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the s…
20 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what specific actions within its strategic childcare plan for the period 2022-26 are intended to improve (a) qualifications and (b) workforce retention in early learning and childcare.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: “Best Start: Strategic early learning and school age childcare plan for Scotland 2022-26" sets out our vision for early learning and school age childcare, our strategic priorities and the principles which guide our approach to working with partners and …
20 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what targeted measures it is taking to reduce staff turnover in early years settings in (a) general and (b) areas with persistent recruitment difficulties.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37815 on 4 June 2025We recognise that, as with many areas of the economy, recruitment remains a challenge for the childcare profession. We also recognise the particular and distinct challenges, barriers and opp…
20 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has assessed the sufficiency of current (a) pay, (b) career progression and (c) conditions in retaining experienced early learning and childcare staff.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: The Scottish Social Services Council published their ‘Have Your Say’ Workforce Wellbeing Survey 2025 report on 22 April 2025. The survey aims to capture the experiences of people working in the social work, social care and children and young peopl…
20 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to address any regional inequalities in the early learning and childcare workforce in (a) general and (b) relation to (i) recruitment and (ii) retention in (A) rural and (B) deprived areas.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: We recognise how vital early learning and childcare is in all parts of Scotland, both in relation to giving children the best start in life and supporting families to work.We are working with local government and our partners in the sector to develop long-ter…
20 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many Care Inspectorate reports since 2018 have cited (a) staffing qualifications and (b) workforce challenges as a key factor in quality ratings.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.The Care Inspectorate report data publicly on their Datastore which may be able to assist with this question or alternatively the Care Inspectorate could be approached directly for a r…
20 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how its early learning and childcare workforce strategy aligns with the expansion of funded hours of childcare, and whether staffing levels are projected to meet demand over the next five years.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: “Best Start, the strategic early learning and school age childcare plan 2022 to 2026” outlines four key priorities that will move us closer to achieving our vision that, through access to rich and nurturing early learning and school age childcare …
20 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to reform or modernise the role of (a) Scottish Enterprise, (b) Skills Development Scotland, (c) the Scottish Social Services Council and (d) other national agencies involved in early learning and childcare workforce planning.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: Information about the Scottish Government’s steps to reform or modernise these public bodies is included below.(a) Scottish EnterpriseAs our national enterprise agency, Scottish Enterprise is focused on delivering a programme of support to help business…
20 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of the early learning and childcare workforce currently holds an SCQF Level 9 qualification or above, and how this compares with the proportion in 2017.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: The proportion of people working as managers in daycare of children’s services is 6.8% (as at 25 April 2025, according to Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) snapshot figures).Registration requirements set by the SSSC specify that lead practitioners…
20 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many times its ministers have intervened in the delivery of local early learning as a result of any failures in (a) infrastructure and (b) staffing, since 2015.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all eligible children have access to high quality early learning and childcare (ELC) in order to receive the support they need to reach their full learning potential, and to give them the best possible sta…
20 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £476 million of capital funding allocated to support the early learning and childcare expansion programme between 2017 and 2021 (a) remains unspent and (b) has been reallocated.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: The Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) monitors the 1140 expansion infrastructure programme on behalf of the Scottish Government. The most recent data collected from local authorities by SFT shows that in October 2024, £16,920,519 of the £476 million of…
20 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the national standard for early learning and childcare has reportedly not been fully implemented across all providers, in light of it being nearly five years since its introduction.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: The National Standard and Funding Follows the Child policy framework was jointly implemented in 2021 by the Scottish Government and COSLA to support the 1140 expansion.Operating Guidance on Funding Follows the Child and the National Standard sets out the Scot…
20 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Scottish National Party 2016 manifesto commitment that “Every nursery already has a teacher or qualified childcare professional. By 2018, every nursery in a deprived community will have an additional teacher or childcare graduate to support children’s learnin…
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: To support those children who benefit most from high quality early learning and childcare (ELC) provision, the Scottish Government made a commitment that, from August 2018, nurseries in the most disadvantaged areas would benefit from an additional teacher or …
20 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish an updated cost-benefit analysis of its policy to provide 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare, since its roll-out in 2014.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: Working with our Monitoring and Evaluation Working Group, the Scottish Government has set out a multi-year (2018-2025) strategy for evaluating the impact of the ELC expansion to 1140 hours on outcomes for children, parents and families. We expect to publish t…
20 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its reported commitment to recruit 12,000 people into the early learning profession by 2021, how many people were recruited by the end of 2021.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: In 2016, prior to the expansion, it was estimated 11,000 people (9,000 full time equivalent workers) would be required to deliver the transformative early learning and childcare (ELC) expansion.Audit Scotland set out in their Early Learning and Childcare Expa…
20 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many early learning and childcare settings have failed to meet Care Inspectorate standards between 2015 and 2024.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: The Care Inspectorate is the independent scrutiny body and regulator for care services in Scotland. It looks at the quality of care in Scotland (including in Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) settings) to ensure it meets high standards and to promote the saf…
20 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many local authorities have reported that its early learning estate is not fit for purpose, and what action it has taken in response to any such concerns.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: To support the expansion of funded early learning and childcare (ELC) to 1140 hours per eligible child, the Scottish Government provided £476 million of capital funding to local authorities between 2017-18 and 2020-21. Supplemented by local authorities&…
20 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many early learning staff have left the sector since 2021.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. The Scottish Social Services Council may be able to assist with this question and can be contacted at:[email protected] most recently published annual workforce data (Scottish…
20 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it has done to address reported concerns that the expansion of funded hours has led to staff burnout and retention issues in the early learning sector.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: The Scottish Government is working with local authorities and other partners to develop long-term workforce plans that address retention issues and support staff wellbeing across the ELC sector.In 2025-26, we are providing £9.7 million to local authorit…