Andrew Baxter
Scottish Liberal Democrats · Scotland
“Andrew Baxter: I thank the cabinet secretary for recognising the importance of our PSAs. However, every summer, pupils, parents, teachers and pupil support assistants are left wondering what their classrooms will look like after the holidays.”
“I refer to my entry in the register of interests, which shows that I am a sitting councillor on Highland Council. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of how any reduction in hours or withdrawal of pupil support assistant posts will impact rural primary schools, particularly in the Highlands and Islands region.”
“It bears repeating that local authorities are the employers of teachers and that, therefore, any assessment that is done regarding the reduction of hours or the withdrawal of pupil support staff in schools in the sort of rural setting that he mentions, or in any school, is a matter for the local authority.”
“When the call comes, coastguard rescue officers drop everything, leaving work, family and home to help to save lives. I am sure that the First Minister shares my concerns about proposals from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to remove payments for emergency call-outs and training.”
“There are many of those and there is an extensive piece of work that backs up that approach and shows how the numbers stack up with regards to investment and return.”
“I am glad that the cabinet secretary has got on to talking about prevention, which was a central tenet of the Christie commission report. I listened to the cabinet secretary when he appeared on Radio Scotland this morning and heard him mention prevention several times, but I did not hear any detail about what he thought that actually mean…”
The complete record
Every one of 48 lines we hold for Andrew Baxter, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account.
“When the call comes, coastguard rescue officers drop everything, leaving work, family and home to help to save lives. I am sure that the First Minister shares my concerns about proposals from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to remove payments for emergency call-outs and training. Will he join MSPs from across the Parliament in calling on the United Kingdom Government and the MCA to think again? What action will he take to highlight the vital role that coastguard rescue officers play in keeping our communities safe?”
“It bears repeating that local authorities are the employers of teachers and that, therefore, any assessment that is done regarding the reduction of hours or the withdrawal of pupil support staff in schools in the sort of rural setting that he mentions, or in any school, is a matter for the local authority. However, I am clear that local authorities must allocate resources, including for pupil support staff, on the basis of local needs and priorities and, crucially, through meaningful engagement with the school community.”
“Andrew Baxter: I thank the cabinet secretary for recognising the importance of our PSAs. However, every summer, pupils, parents, teachers and pupil support assistants are left wondering what their classrooms will look like after the holidays. One PSA recently told me that they were informed before the start of the school day that there was no allocation for their post beyond the summer. Having just moved into their first rented flat, they do not know how they will pay the bills. Does the cabinet secretary accept that the annual cycle of uncertainty is failing staff and pupils? What action will the Scottish Government take with local authorities to ensure that young people receive the support that they need to reach their full potential? Màiri McAllan: I recognise the seriousness of the issue that Andrew Baxter raises.”
“I refer to my entry in the register of interests, which shows that I am a sitting councillor on Highland Council. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of how any reduction in hours or withdrawal of pupil support assistant posts will impact rural primary schools, particularly in the Highlands and Islands region. (S7O-00066) The Cabinet Secretary for Education, Culture and Gaelic (Màiri McAllan): Pupil support assistants play an absolutely vital role in our classrooms and schools and in our young people’s education. They are essential and valued members of the school learning teams and communities. That is why we continue to provide £15 million each year to help local authorities to maintain record levels of investment in those vital staff.”
“As Katharine Sangster has said, the police need to be seen in our communities so that our young people can develop a healthy relationship with them. I hope that, when the minister responds to the debate, she will tell us how she plans to redirect resources to tackle these issues, how we can strengthen the existing measures that we have at our disposal and whether she will consider introducing additional measures to look at the issues identified by members this evening. 18:08”
“Colin Beattie is right to highlight that in his motion. The police, too, are frustrated with the limitations on our children’s panels in dealing with these incidents. None of us wants to criminalise our young people, but it is right that we look at the underlying causes identified in Colin Beattie’s motion and at how we support our young people and their families to stop this problem, as he puts it, “at the source”. He is also right to highlight the hard work being done by our police, but I must say to the minister that the simple fact is that, particularly in large rural geographies like my own and those of Dawn Black and Liam Kerr, the police are overstretched and simply cannot deal with these issues. We cannot find ourselves in that sort of situation.”
“What might seem like relatively small levels of antisocial behaviour soon accumulate. Vandalism that involves toilet rolls strewn across public toilets becomes washbasins or urinals getting ripped from the walls, and that leads to wheelie bins being set on fire or even, in the case of some incidents in Fort William, a hotel worker being physically assaulted by the perpetrators of all that antisocial behaviour. I understand the frustration that our police feel when they deal with these issues. A police inspector told me that he actually had to threaten to arrest the father of one of the young people who had been taken to the police station after being apprehended for antisocial behaviour and vandalism. No wonder we have a problem, if that is the attitude of parents in these circumstances.”
“Other members have pointed to some of the causes of antisocial behaviour and the measures required to tackle it, but I want to use my contribution to highlight the essential services that are being lost as a result of antisocial behaviour, particularly when it leads to vandalism. The closure of the public toilets in Fort William is just an example of that; although the toilets are vital, they are not statutory, and when they are vandalised, they come under threat of closure. Indeed, we have seen the extended or permanent closure of such facilities, not just in Fort William but in Portree, Aviemore, Ballachulish and across the Highlands. That has a direct impact not only on our local communities but on the important tourism economy that we rely on. Our councils are facing increased, and escalating, costs that are unsustainable.”
“I direct members to my entry in the register of members’ interests: I am a serving member of Highland Council. I thank Colin Beattie for securing the debate. I realise that those members who are left in the chamber are, unlike me, unlikely to rush out on a Thursday morning to buy the latest edition of the Lochaber Times, but if they had done so this morning, they would have seen that this evening’s debate is timely from the perspective of my constituency, because the front page features news about the extended closure of the public toilets in Fort William as a result of antisocial behaviour that led to vandalism.”
“They have to think twice about whether to arrest an offender, as that would require a two-hour journey up the A82 to a custody suite in Inverness, because the local facility is unmanned or unavailable. For ministers, centralisation can look efficient on a spreadsheet. For someone in Portree, Mallaig, Lochaline or Kingussie, it often means that decisions are being taken further away, by people who know less than they do about the community that is affected. The test of reform is not whether civil servants and ministers here in Edinburgh have reorganised services. It is whether people receive better services in their own community. Too often, the SNP’s previous reforms have passed the first test and failed the second. 16:40”
“I say to the cabinet secretary that there is a spare seat for him, so he can come with me, and I will introduce him to police officers who, privately, will tell him that they view Police Scotland as the greater Strathclyde police force, even 10 years after reform. They will share their experience of his party’s flagship public service reform. Following the creation of Police Scotland, officers are still overstretched in rural areas. Huge swathes of the Highlands are covered by just two officers on a weekend. They are put in the intolerable position of deciding between responding to acts of vandalism and dangerous parking along Glen Etive or heading to a domestic abuse incident in Fort William.”
“That key test is not whether the structure has changed but whether the final outcome for our constituents has improved. Thirdly, does it strengthen prevention? During his Radio Scotland interview this morning, the cabinet secretary used the word “prevention” several times, but I am still no clearer, even after my intervention on him, what shape he thinks preventative services will take. A list of recent initiatives is simply not enough. The cabinet secretary cites the creation of Police Scotland as the perfect example of SNP public service reform. Yesterday, he looked on enviously as I offered the Deputy First Minister a road trip to Skye.”
“Dawn Black would be very welcome to go to my website and sign my petition to break up Highland Council. I was particularly struck by Alyn Smith’s positive speech, in which he said that we are here to redesign the state. That is a bold task. If the Government is willing to take it on, it will go way beyond this one session of the Parliament, so the cabinet secretary will be sat in that position for a long time to come—beyond the next election. The Liberal Democrats wish to work constructively with the Government rather than simply criticising. We have three simple positive tests for reform. First, does it increase local accountability? How will local councils, communities and individuals influence decisions in their area? Secondly, does it improve outcomes?”
“Too often, the SNP has confused reform with reorganisation and reorganisation with centralisation. Real reform should push power closer to communities, not further away from them. However, this afternoon’s debate has demonstrated a broad agreement that Scotland faces significant challenges in delivering reform to our public services and, in doing so, empowering our communities and those who use those services. I was therefore heartened by the thoughtful contributions from SNP members—including, in particular, those who were making their first speeches—demonstrating a willingness to work across parties. I whole-heartedly agree with Dawn Black that a one-size-fits-all approach simply does not work and that many of our local authorities are too large.”
“Prevention is not just the right thing to do to improve lives; it is essential for long-term sustainability.”
“The choice is clear: either we change how we deliver services or we risk being unable to sustain them. That is a risk that this Government is not willing to accept. Public service reform is not just about the services of today; it is about stewardship and protecting public services for generations to come. We have to prevent problems before they start and not just respond when they reach a crisis point. Poverty, poor health and inequality are not inevitable. They are challenges that we can address earlier and more effectively, and when we do so, the benefits are profound, including better outcomes for people, stronger communities and reduced long-term pressure on services. That is why we are committed to focusing on prevention and expanding early intervention.”
“That means that we must be open to changing how our system fits together, where decisions are made and how investment takes place to deliver for people. In our first 100 days, we will lay out our plans for public service renewal and the bill that will follow. We know the pressures that public services face—demographic change, rising demand, fiscal constraint, global uncertainty, increasing complexity of need and increasing expectations from the public that they serve. In last year’s medium-term financial strategy, we published our assessment of the scale of the fiscal challenge over the next five years, and in the fiscal sustainability delivery plan we set out the actions that we are taking to close that deficit. Nevertheless, without reform, those pressures will outstrip the resources that are available.”
“Those include very clearly setting out our expectations that public service leaders should focus on systems, not silos, and our intention to empower staff, service users and communities. We will reform the national performance framework and change our budget processes so that funds flow to where they can make the biggest impact rather than getting stuck in silos, and we will ensure that the workforce and communities are part of the reform process rather than reform being something that is done to them. Public service reform is about the future of public services in Scotland—how we design them, deliver them and ensure that they meet the needs of the people they serve. It is about driving integration, simplification and collaboration.”
“There are many of those and there is an extensive piece of work that backs up that approach and shows how the numbers stack up with regards to investment and return. As we take forward the budget process for 2027-28, we will implement a process of tagging spend so that, for the first time, we will know what is classed as preventative spending, at what level that prevention sits and what impact it is having. Despite the progress that we have made, we recognise that we have not delivered the scale and pace of reform that is required. The public service reform strategy identified the systemic barriers that we face: siloed organisations, budgeting that supports structures but that is not always aligned to services and a culture that can be slow to change. The strategy sets out the actions that we are taking to tackle those barriers.”
“I am glad that the cabinet secretary has got on to talking about prevention, which was a central tenet of the Christie commission report. I listened to the cabinet secretary when he appeared on Radio Scotland this morning and heard him mention prevention several times, but I did not hear any detail about what he thought that actually meant. Since the Christie commission report was published, we have seen a cut in preventative services, particularly in rural healthcare. How does he plan to reverse that? Ivan McKee: I will talk more about that in the course of my remarks, but, briefly, prevention is one of the four core principles of the Christie commission. When we published the public sector reform strategy last year, we also published an extensive document outlining all the preventative innovations that have been implemented.”
“Jenny Gilruth: I have been to Skye many times and am more than happy to come again and visit Andrew Baxter’s roads. However, I put on record that the local road network is the responsibility of the Highland Council, which has had an uplift in funding from the Scottish Government. In 2026-27, it will receive £665.1 million to fund local services, which equates to an extra £32.3 million—5.1 per cent—compared with the previous financial year. It is important to put on the record that the allocation of capital is a matter for the authority. However, the Government’s budget of last year delivers in full a number of asks from island authorities, including the one in the member’s constituency, to provide extra capital funding and resource for interisland connectivity, in recognition of the importance of rural roads in particular.”
“I undertook an introductory meeting with COSLA on 28 May, and I will meet the organisation again, as previously intimated, on Thursday 18 June, along with the Cabinet Secretary for Public Service Reform. Andrew Baxter: The Highland Council’s identified roads repair backlog is £233 million, yet only £22.5 million is being allocated to capital road improvements this year. Across Skye, Lochaber and the wider Highlands, residents and businesses are experiencing road deterioration at an alarming rate. Before the Deputy First Minister heads off on her summer holiday, will she join me on a road trip to Skye to see the reality for herself and explain why the better surfaces fund will be anything more than a drop of tar in an ever- growing pothole?”
“I direct members to my entry in the register of members’ interests. I am a Highland councillor. To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and local authorities regarding how its proposed better surfaces fund will be allocated. (S7O-00035) The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government (Jenny Gilruth): The Scottish Government will work in partnership with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to design a fund that provides flexibility and empowers individual local authorities to improve their road conditions and connectivity, based on their local needs and priorities.”
“My motivation for standing for election was simple: I want to be a champion and a voice for the Highlands, and, above all, I want to help to build public services that are accessible, reliable, closer to home and there when people need them most. That is the task that I set myself as I take my place in the Parliament, and I look forward to working with members across the chamber to deliver it. 16:28”
“There was the patient living with chronic pain and facing repeated long journeys simply to access treatment that should be available closer to home; the single mother checking her balance and realising that she had only a few pounds left to feed the meter while living in a damp council house with ageing storage heaters and no prospect of improvements; and the lady in the early stages of dementia, who I hugged every week, who stood bewildered, confused and with tears streaming down her face because she did not know what to do when her husband—her rock—was placed in a care home two hours away because there were no beds closer to home. That is the reality of public services for too many constituents.”
“Behind the post office counter, I saw people at their very best and at their lowest ebb. Behind every transaction was a story. There was the small business owner frustrated by watching decades of underinvestment in Highland roads that added costs, delays and uncertainty to every working day, and the supermarket worker struggling to stay in employment because bus services had been cut back—a £2 fare cap means very little if there is no reliable bus to catch. There was the parent furious that their child had gone an entire academic year without a permanent maths teacher as they approached their national 5 exams, and the man living with bipolar disorder who was being told that he would have to wait a month for a telephone appointment with his own general practitioner.”
“Businesses across the Highlands continue to struggle with a rates system that often bears little resemblance to economic reality while local government—the largest provider of many of our public services—continues to shoulder ever greater responsibilities with ever fewer resources. Having served for 12 years as a Highland councillor, I have watched local government being hollowed out. Services have been centralised, reduced or removed altogether. It is fortunate that many of the communities that I spoke about earlier have stepped in to fill the gaps. However, volunteer goodwill is not an unlimited resource. Communities cannot be expected to indefinitely provide public services at cut-price rates while government retreats. Ultimately, this debate is not about tax; it is about people. For 17 years, I ran Kinlochleven post office.”
“They roll up their sleeves, organise, fundraise, volunteer and get things done. Perhaps that is why support for the Liberal Democrats has traditionally been strongest in the Highlands—like those communities, we believe in getting things done. Today’s debate is about wealth taxation and how we fund our public services. It is an important discussion and I welcome it. Those with the broadest shoulders should make a fair contribution towards the services on which we all rely. However, if this Parliament is serious about funding public services properly, we must look beyond wealth taxation alone. We must also confront the urgent need for reform of council tax and non-domestic rates.”
“My Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch constituency has Britain’s tallest mountain, Ben Nevis; our deepest loch, with its own forgotten monster, Morag; the largest body of fresh water in the UK, Loch Ness, with its rather more famous monster; the most westerly point on the British mainland at Ardnamurchan; three of Scotland’s five ski centres at Glencoe, Nevis and Cairngorm; the largest landslip in Britain, the beautiful Trotternish ridge on Skye; the world porridge- making championships in Carrbridge; and Dingwall, the site of a Norse Parliament that predates the so-called mother of Parliaments at Westminster. Last but certainly not least, my constituency has a network of incredibly determined and resilient communities that, when faced with the reduction or loss of a public service, never simply accept that that is the end of the matter.”
“I follow two remarkably hard-working politicians who, in very different ways, represented both their constituents and the wider Highlands with passion and conviction. Although it remains unclear whether all their former colleagues fully recognise the loss that their departures represent to their political movement, it is clear that this Parliament is the poorer for their absence. We will all watch with interest to see what roles Kate and Fergus play in Scottish public life in the future. I have listened to numerous first speeches from colleagues from every party, and it seems that the first speech is an opportunity for unabashed political boasting—a version of constituency top trumps. I am willing to take on any member at that game, because I believe that I hold all the best cards.”
“I congratulate you on your election, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I congratulate all the new members in the chamber on their election. Looking at the polling pre-election, some members must have been fairly certain that they would sit here as MSPs. I remain surprised that I stand here today to make my first speech to the Parliament, although perhaps not quite as surprised as my SNP colleagues. After all, many people said that overturning a majority of more than 15,000 votes in Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, which was one of the SNP’s safest seats, was simply impossible. However, that previous majority was a reflection of the immense popularity and dedication of my immediate predecessor Kate Forbes and of Fergus Ewing, who, before the recent boundary changes, represented part of my constituency with equal distinction.”
“Lasting improvement also means addressing the challenges in our social care sector, which have been exacerbated by the UK Government’s hostile approach to migration and the financial burden heaped on providers thanks to the increase in employer national insurance contributions. A significant part of tackling pressures in our hospitals involves our continuing to move more care into communities, with new community health hubs, new lung and heart health MOTs and 30 walk-in general practice centres from Shetland to”
“Let me be clear: corridor care and long waits in accident and emergency are simply unacceptable. I am absolutely committed to improving care, improving performance and reducing delays. The reality is that those pressures do not start at the front door; they are caused by blockages across the whole system. Our focus has to be on practical, immediate action to tackle the underlying challenges, working collaboratively across the NHS, local government and key partners to deliver better, faster care. That is why, within the first 100 days of this session, we will publish a clear plan to improve patient flow, building on the progress already made through our investments in NHS 24, the Scottish Ambulance Service and the front-door frailty services that we now have in every health board.”
“That means delivering on our manifesto commitment that, by the end of this parliamentary session, no patients will be waiting longer than 26 weeks for treatment. We are seeing improvements in cancer services, too. We are treating more patients on time, within both standards, than we did pre- pandemic. For example, more than 95 per cent of patients started treatment within 31 days of the decision to treat, with a median wait of just two days, which is the joint lowest figure on record. That progress has been helped by expanding the roll-out of our rapid cancer diagnostic services, including the new service in NHS Forth Valley, which opened last year. We are working on a new cancer action plan, which we will publish later this year. I know that pressures in unscheduled care will be a concern for the public.”
“I am pleased to confirm that we have not only met but exceeded our additional activity target, as we delivered more than 168,000 additional appointments and procedures in 2025-26 compared with the number for the previous year. Data published yesterday shows a 7 per cent increase in the number of operations performed in the past 12 months. Our national treatment centres have been vital to that success, having delivered more than 34,000 surgeries and procedures between April and December 2025—surpassing our annual target three months early. I want to go much further—and we have to. I want a system that is in balance and that can respond to demands, ensuring that all patients are seen quickly.”
“The latest data shows that the number of new out-patient waits of longer than 52 weeks has fallen for 11 consecutive months, with the number of in-patient and day-case waits of longer than 52 weeks having reduced for 15 months. Since July 2025, the number of waits of longer than a year for new out-patient appointments has fallen by 76 per cent and the number of waits of longer than a year for in-patient and day-case appointments has almost halved. We are also seeing really good progress in diagnostics. In the latest quarter, activity was at its highest level since reporting began, in April 2024. That means that thousands more people are getting their scans and scopes sooner, which is helping them to get a faster diagnosis.”
“The cabinet secretary has spoken about working collaboratively and moving care closer to home. How does she intend to implement the recommendations of the Ritchie report and reintroduce 24/7 urgent care at Portree hospital? Will she meet me and the SOS-NHS Skye Portree hospital group to explain how she will do so? Angela Constance: I very much appreciate Mr Baxter’s intervention. I have been advised that significant progress has been made, but I will want to test that, and I would welcome a discussion with Mr Baxter on those matters. Our commitment to tackling long waits is unwavering. Although we did not meet our March target, that was a stretching ambition and what matters are the actions that we are taking to go further.”
“The Government will have to contend with difficult decisions, given the exceptionally challenging fiscal context, but, as has been evidenced today, the Parliament is in agreement that we must find ways of improving our offer to families. I look forward to working with colleagues on those important issues. The approach that we will take will reflect the needs of communities across the country. It will reduce inequalities, which often determine who can and cannot work and the sort of roles that they can do. It will recognise the challenge that parents—predominantly women—across the country face every day in balancing the demands of childcare and work. It will also help to grow the economy by supporting families to work the hours that they want to work. Investing in and expanding childcare will benefit everyone in Scotland.”
“As I said at the beginning of my speech, we are providing £13.4 million in support to local authorities to enable them to set sustainable rates for staff in the private and third sector. A few members asked how this will all be funded. We are facing one of the most challenging fiscal environments in recent years. The Cabinet Secretary for Public Service Reform, along with the Deputy First Minister, will oversee our collective response to ensuring that funding is prioritised in areas in which it will have the most impact. However, we are clear about the importance of expanding childcare, as has been set out in the debate, and its potential impact on economic growth. We will prioritise funding in our budgets to ensure that the expansion can be delivered, and we are committed to reprioritising an additional £500 million.”
“Statutory guidance is clear that, wherever possible, families who access cross-boundary placements should be treated on the same basis as families who access provision locally. I want families across Scotland to benefit from the ambitions that have been set out jointly with our local government partners in our funding follows the child approach. It has been concerning to hear of local decisions that are reported to have reduced flexibility and choice, as well as provider sustainability. We will consider recent developments on the issue in partnership with COSLA. The issue of funding for the PVI sector has been raised. As the cabinet secretary mentioned earlier, the Diffley report was published in March, and it is important that we take time to reflect on its findings with the sector and local government.”
“In our early adopter communities, we are expanding access to childcare activities and to the wider support that she mentioned in order to tackle poverty and improve outcomes for families. I am happy to send further information on that programme to the member if that would be helpful. I thank Clare Haughey for all her work in her ministerial capacity. She played an integral part in the initial implementation of the expansion of the 1,140 hours delivery in August 2021. If I may, I will touch on a few other things. The cross-boundary issue has been raised by several members. We are committed to parents and carers accessing their children’s ELC funding at a provider of their choice in the public, private and third or childminding sector.”
“Siobhian Brown: We have already done significant work on that. I will come to it later in my speech. Willie Rennie also mentioned the points that Meghan Gallacher raised and noted the importance of childminders. I reiterate what I said about the ongoing work that the Scottish Government is doing with the SCMA to deliver a three-year programme of childminder recruitment. I agree with Mr Rennie about Mr Dunlop’s contribution yesterday. Clearly, he is passionate about delivering the Promise, and I am sure that there will be lots of discussions on that moving forward. Claire Baker raised some concerns about what support is being put in place. I am not sure whether she is aware of the early adopter community programme that the Scottish Government is rolling out.”
“We look forward to early discussions with the Greens and COSLA to look at the operational implications of the amendment in the context of the wider reform and expansion of childcare. I welcome Meghan Gallacher’s view that this is a new start and that there are opportunities to work together. She brought up the restrictions in the current model. As we move forward, we need to have more flexibility, so I cannot see how the current model can continue. We are doing that ongoing work. Meghan Gallacher: I welcome the minister to her new role and look forward to meeting with her in due course. If any expansion is going to be considered, the Government needs to look at the current funding model, to ensure that there is parity between the PVI sector and council-run nurseries. Will the minister today commit to doing that?”
“We have made more than £4 million in funding available to the Scottish Childminding Association to enable it to deliver a national three- year programme of childminder recruitment and retention, which is now available in 31 local authority areas. I recognise those members who made their first contributions in the debate: Katherine Sangster, Angela Ross, Calum Kerr, David Smith, Q Manivannan, Laura Mitchell, Yi-pei Chou Turvey, Holly Bruce and Amanda Lindsay. I look forward to working with them during the parliamentary term. Turning to members’ contributions, Maggie Chapman and Holly Bruce touched on the issues raised in the Greens’ amendment, and the cabinet secretary has confirmed that we will support it.”
“The cabinet secretary and I hope to meet sector representatives soon to hear their views on our ambitious plans to expand childcare to benefit families, children and the economy. In 2026-27, we are making £13.4 million available to enable childcare staff who deliver ELC funded hours in private and third sector providers to continue to be paid at least the real living wage. That is on top of the additional £25.7 million in recurring funding that we have delivered to support previous increases. We remain committed to growing the childminding profession, in order that more families have access to the unique and flexible experience of childcare that childminders can offer.”
“That work has been ongoing as we progress the expansion of childcare, but I am happy to meet the member if he has any concerns about that, now and in the future. We have also heard that families need childcare support for a much wider range of ages and that the cost of living challenge has further raised the barriers that are presented by high childcare costs for families, pushing some families out of the labour market or forcing working parents to reduce their hours or change their working patterns. We can deliver on our ambitious plans to expand childcare only through our hard-working, dedicated childcare sector, so I put on record my thanks to those who are delivering our childcare services across the public, private and third and childminding sectors.”
“Does the minister recognise that one of the biggest challenges in expanding childcare in rural areas such as my constituency is the lack of childminders? Will she investigate how we can change current regulations to allow those childminders to operate in our excellent rural community facilities rather than from their own homes? Those regulations are a significant barrier to those who wish to enter the sector. Siobhian Brown: Yes, absolutely—we recognise how vital early learning and childcare is, especially in rural and island areas. I am not sure whether the member is aware of the Scottish Government’s support for the Scottish Childminding Association’s childminder recruitment and retention programme, which is available in nearly all areas of Scotland.”
“I, Andrew Phillip Baxter, do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles, his heirs and successors, according to law. So help me”