Childcare

That the Parliament recognises that access to affordable, high-quality childcare supports children’s learning and development and enables parents to return to, or remain in, work; notes with concern the recent report, The Scottish Childcare Lottery, which found that there are very significant gaps in the availability of childcare in Scotland, childcare costs are among the highest in Britain and that there is greater geographic variation in childcare costs in Scotland than in any other part of the UK; believes that, while some local authorities have worked hard to ensure sufficient childcare in their areas, much more work is needed from the Scottish Government and local authorities to ensure that families have access to affordable, integrated pre-school and childcare services in every community matched to an assessment of local demand, as is required by the Early Years Framework; is also concerned that Scotland is lagging behind England on entitlement to free pre-school education, and calls on the Scottish Government to respond to the concerns about availability and costs raised in The Scottish Childcare Lottery report, to ensure that the objectives of the Early Years Framework are met and to set out the steps that it will take to increase childcare support in Scotland in order to match the best elsewhere in Europe.