Expanding Childcare

As an amendment to motion S7M-00128 in the name of Màiri McAllan (Expanding Childcare), insert at end ", believes that the Scottish Government needs to strengthen the existing offer of 1,140 hours of funded childcare by prioritising working families and introducing means testing based on need in order to allocate resources fairly; further believes that it must also ensure that funding is allocated in a fair and transparent manner by allowing support to follow the child, rather than channelling funding primarily through council-run provision, and calls on the Scottish Government to adopt a phased approach to any childcare expansion, with clear evaluation at each stage and a focus on ages two to five as well as early primary wraparound care."