Scotland’s First Minister, Humza Yousaf, recently confirmed new measures to enhance childcare in the country, as he revealed a childcare expansion strategy as part of his programme for government. The Scottish National Party (SNP) leader outlined plans to spend an additional £1bn on social security, raise pay for social care workers, and improve childcare services.
These landmark announcements were part of Mr. Yousaf’s government programme speech that traditionally marks the commencement of a new parliamentary year at Holyrood. Maintaining that the plan was emphatically “anti-poverty and pro-growth” Mr Yousaf faced criticism from opposition leaders who claimed that this failed to confront the significant challenges that Scotland is currently facing.
In an effort to provide additional support to women, who are disproportionately affected by the pressures of modern life, the government plans to focus on tackling the root causes of the issue. A pilot for care from nine months to the end of primary school will be introduced by the first minister, with additional focus on accelerating care expansion for two-year-olds and paving the way for parents to manage childcare personally.
Enhancing recruitment of childminders and increasing their minimum hourly pay to £12 from this April forms a pivotal part of the government’s agenda. Under the current system, children aged three and four in Scotland are entitled to 1,140 hours of free care each year.
Reflecting upon a promise made during his tenure as health secretary, Mr Yousaf proclaimed that social care staff in direct care roles will enjoy a pay rise to £12 an hour, ensuring an annual pay increase of up to £2,000 beginning in April for full-time employees.
Social care providers, however, criticised the proposed offer, describing it as a “failure to understand the reality” of social care in Scotland, and advocating for an immediate pay hike, backdated to April.
The SNP leader also highlighted the government’s commitment to negating poverty, stating that it would remove income thresholds for the Best Start food programme by February, thereby extending financial support for milk and healthy food to an additional 20,000 mothers and children.
Mr Yousaf stated that his government’s primary objective was to eliminate the “scourge” of poverty, promising more than £400m investment in the Scottish Child Payment, thereby providing over £1,000 a year for more than 300,000 children. This forms part of £1bn in extra funding for social security measures, though no commitment has been made to increase the Scottish Child Payment from its current level of £25 a week per child.
The First Minister also called on the UK government to implement an “essentials guarantee”, aiming to ensure that individuals on Universal Credit consistently receive enough money to cover basic necessities such as food, energy, and transport.
A multitude of other anti-poverty measures will be implemented, including the promise to extend school meals to all primary six and seven pupils, starting with those receiving the Scottish Child Payment in 2024. However, a recent document published by the Scottish government mentioned it would not roll out this initiative for all P6 and P7 pupils until 2026.
Furthermore, the SNP leader threw his weight behind bills that criminalise misogynistic abuse and create safe zones around abortion clinics. Yousaf pledged to improve the treatment of women and their families following a miscarriage, citing his personal experience of losing a baby. He also committed to the creation of a certificate and a memorial book of pregnancy and baby loss, a policy supported by former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
Finally, as part of his pro-business commitments, Yousaf announced a £15m plan to bolster innovation and entrepreneurship, striving for a deal with the onshore wind industry to reduce the consenting time for new wind farms by half, and ensuring a £750m investment to provide affordable homes while spending £60m this year to convert empty properties into affordable housing.
While the proposed plans have been welcomed by some, they have also received criticism. Both Scottish conservatives and liberal democrats felt that the policies lacked the magnitude required to tackle rapidly proliferating local public service challenges, while worries concerning the cost of living and struggles with the NHS continue to loom large.
