Investing in our Children’s futures
No-one in Scotland can be in any doubt about the scale of the financial challenges we all now face. Long before yesterday’s emergency budget from the new UK Government, commentators across the political spectrum had warned about the scale of pressures on public finances in the years to come.
As Children’s Minister, I want to ensure children’s services are protected as best we can because investing in those early years not only benefits children but offers real benefits for society as a whole.
Successive Scottish and UK governments have spoken about the importance of the early years in the past and a range of initiatives have been introduced to support this. However, I want to see progress becoming widespread and to be urgently stepped up.
By improving the early years and intervening early to offer additional support to children and families who need it, we can reduce the need for more costly interventions later like putting a young person into care or dealing with the long-term consequences of poor attainment, long-term unemployment and crime. Problems none of us, not least our children, can afford.
Today, the Scottish Government is hosting a national Children’s Summit to discuss how best to urgently improve children’s services during these difficult times and will be asking everyone involved to sign a pledge to improve outcomes for our children despite the tough financial climate.
Indeed, given the unprecedented pressures on the public spending, it is more important than ever that we work together to build a national consensus on this issue to drive forward urgent improvements and focus hard-pressed resources on these services which can make such a difference for future generations. Further details of how you can get involved in future discussions on this subject will be announced shortly.
3 comments
I agree that early years are some of the most important. The Government has a policy on this but Councils can choose to ignore this. We must ensure that all children have access to this early years education as per the policy across the whole of scotland. For progress to become widespread councils must not be allowed to pick and choose what parts they impliment. It must be fair across the whole of scotland. Whats the point in all of this if Councils don’t have to follow it? Some of us are already dipping out on early years funded places and the government can do nothing about it, so why have these goals? As Councils take more of a financial hit how will the government ensure that the rest of scotland is not dealt with in the same way as we are losing our early years funded places in appropriate nurseries? People who work and are in education need support to ensure that councils have to stick by the policies and good practice guides which state that funded places should be in a variety of places rather than just in schools.
The rhetoric is certainly very impressive. However it is unfortunate that in practice, local authorities are allowed to pick and choose which children have access to quality early years provision and force parents into poverty and unemployment as a direct result of local authority maladministration.
All the children’s summits in the world won’t make a jot of difference while the government appears unable to oblige local authorities to ensure that working parents have appropriate levels of funding to allow them to utilise private nursery provision.
I would be interested to see if East Ayrshire council sign a pledge, although they probably will as it looks impressive but carries no weight, much like the Children’s Summit.
amhiggins – the problem started when Maggie T introduced nursery vouchers and politicised the early years – she also in one fell swoop outsourced the childcare element of early years provision to the profit making third sector. Since then successive administrations have followed this precedent as a quick and cheap way to increse early years provision. Oh yes it gets dressed up in all sorts of fancy ways – it’s not just schools that educate – no need for teachers as long as someone on staff has a degree and now lets put our differences aside and work together. Why is this ok for the Early Years but not even considered for other sectors. We are being fobbed off yet again with rhetoric. I listened to Mike Russells speech and was very disapointed by the lack of substance. He sounds like he has got the message but he really hasn’t or we would be seeing much more radical solutions. In ten years time when we look back we are going to be so sad at what has been lost and Michael when you are in need of care and support you will be getting it from the adults who were the children this government let down!