The Expansion of Early Learning and Childcare Provision

As an amendment to motion S5M-01703 in the name of Mark McDonald (The Expansion of Early Learning and Childcare Provision), insert at end “; believes that the importance of having a robust long-term delivery plan in place is demonstrated by the fact that many parents have problems accessing current entitlements to free provision and that the financial review confirmed that only 7% of two-year-olds were receiving free nursery care at the 2015 census, and believes that this plan must address the additional challenges of ensuring that rural and island communities fully share the benefits of this policy, both on the provision of pre-school education and the capital costs that local education authorities will incur."