Aileen Campbell MSP

That the Parliament supports the Scottish Government’s aspiration to making Scotland the best place in the world for children to grow up; acknowledges that the vast majority of parents in Scotland already provide excellent support for their children; recognises the vital role that parents and carers play, not only in improving outcomes for children and young people in their care, but also in creating stronger communities and a more positive future for all; agrees that all parents need support at times and that parents and carers bringing up children in difficult circumstances may need additional support; welcomes the development of a national parenting strategy as a way of driving forward the shared ambition for improving outcomes for children and young people across Scotland; supports the approach taken to gathering the views of a diverse range of 1,500 parents whose voices are not normally heard and using this as a foundation for the national parenting strategy; thanks the many organisations that have hosted discussion groups with parents on the Scottish Government's behalf, and welcomes the Scottish Government's commitment to continued working in partnership with parents and a wide range of partner agencies to develop the detail of the work.

That the Parliament supports the Scottish Government’s aspiration to making Scotland the best place in the world for children to grow up; acknowledges that the vast majority of parents in Scotland already provide excellent support for their children; recognises the vital role that parents and carers play, not only in improving outcomes for children and young people in their care, but also in creating stronger communities and a more positive future for all; agrees that all parents need support at times and that parents and carers bringing up children in difficult circumstances may need additional support; welcomes the development of a national parenting strategy as a way of driving forward the shared ambition for improving outcomes for children and young people across Scotland; supports the approach taken to gathering the views of a diverse range of 1,500 parents whose voices are not normally heard and using this as a foundation for the national parenting strategy; thanks the many organisations that have hosted discussion groups with parents on the Scottish Government's behalf, and welcomes the Scottish Government's commitment to continued working in partnership with parents and a wide range of partner agencies to develop the detail of the work.

As an amendment to motion S4M-02338 in the name of Liam McArthur (Childcare), leave out from "with concern" to end and insert “the issues raised in the recent report, The Scottish Childcare Lottery, regarding cost, sufficiency and variation of early learning and childcare in Scotland; welcomes steps by the Scottish Government to address these issues, including the commitment to legislate to increase the amount of free nursery provision from 475 hours to a minimum of 600 hours for all 3 and 4-year-olds and all looked-after 2-year-olds; further welcomes the Scottish Government’s commitment to work with the Early Years Task Force, local authorities, parents' representatives and childcare providers to consider how best to deliver increased and flexible provision, identify more clearly provision across Scotland and to learn from the best provision elsewhere in Europe, and condemns the UK Government's proposed welfare reforms that will have a detrimental effect on thousands of families across Scotland and have a negative impact on their access to childcare.”

As an amendment to motion S4M-02338 in the name of Liam McArthur (Childcare), leave out from "with concern" to end and insert “the issues raised in the recent report, The Scottish Childcare Lottery, regarding cost, sufficiency and variation of early learning and childcare in Scotland; welcomes steps by the Scottish Government to address these issues, including the commitment to legislate to increase the amount of free nursery provision from 475 hours to a minimum of 600 hours for all 3 and 4-year-olds and all looked-after 2-year-olds; further welcomes the Scottish Government’s commitment to work with the Early Years Task Force, local authorities, parents' representatives and childcare providers to consider how best to deliver increased and flexible provision, identify more clearly provision across Scotland and to learn from the best provision elsewhere in Europe, and condemns the UK Government's proposed welfare reforms that will have a detrimental effect on thousands of families across Scotland and have a negative impact on their access to childcare.”

As an amendment to motion S4M-01828 in the name of Jackie Baillie (Supporting Families), leave out from first “notes” to end and insert “welcomes that substantial resources have been provided to local authorities to allow them to provide financial support to kinship carers; recognises that, unlike its predecessors, the 2007-11 Scottish administration acted to introduce regulations to allow financial support to be provided to kinship carers; supports wider efforts  to empower families, including the development of a national parenting strategy, the Play, Talk, Read campaign and the roll-out of the Family Nurse Partnership; condemns the UK benefits system as not being fit for purpose as it penalises kinship carers and other vulnerable groups, and calls on the UK Government to fairly support kinship carers.”

As an amendment to motion S4M-01828 in the name of Jackie Baillie (Supporting Families), leave out from first “notes” to end and insert “welcomes that substantial resources have been provided to local authorities to allow them to provide financial support to kinship carers; recognises that, unlike its predecessors, the 2007-11 Scottish administration acted to introduce regulations to allow financial support to be provided to kinship carers; supports wider efforts  to empower families, including the development of a national parenting strategy, the Play, Talk, Read campaign and the roll-out of the Family Nurse Partnership; condemns the UK benefits system as not being fit for purpose as it penalises kinship carers and other vulnerable groups, and calls on the UK Government to fairly support kinship carers.”

That the Education and Culture Committee recommends that the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman Act 2002 Amendment Order 2012 [draft] be approved.

That the Education and Culture Committee recommends that the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman Act 2002 Amendment Order 2012 [draft] be approved.

As an amendment to motion S4M-00854 in the name of Jackie Baillie (Procurement of Social Care Services), leave out from first "notes” to end and insert “notes that, despite cuts to the Scottish Budget by the UK Government and the previous Labour administration, local government funding in Scotland has been significantly protected compared to local government funding in England; welcomes the commitment of the Scottish Government to continue to improve care for older people by maintaining free personal care and improving the integration of health and social care to help ensure long-term sustainability of high quality care; believes that local authorities should have due regard to the Scottish Government's guidance on the procurement of care and support services, which was co-produced by a reference group involving all key stakeholders' interests and which sets out guiding principles for use by local authorities as a framework for evaluating local practice; further believes that, in accordance with the guidance, local authorities should promote the achievement of positive outcomes for service users and carers through the delivery of good quality, flexible and responsive services and ensure that continuity of care and the importance of a skilled and competent workforce are fully taken into account, and further notes COSLA’s intention to tackle variation on charging via its fundamental review of the cost of care.

As an amendment to motion S4M-00854 in the name of Jackie Baillie (Procurement of Social Care Services), leave out from first "notes” to end and insert “notes that, despite cuts to the Scottish Budget by the UK Government and the previous Labour administration, local government funding in Scotland has been significantly protected compared to local government funding in England; welcomes the commitment of the Scottish Government to continue to improve care for older people by maintaining free personal care and improving the integration of health and social care to help ensure long-term sustainability of high quality care; believes that local authorities should have due regard to the Scottish Government's guidance on the procurement of care and support services, which was co-produced by a reference group involving all key stakeholders' interests and which sets out guiding principles for use by local authorities as a framework for evaluating local practice; further believes that, in accordance with the guidance, local authorities should promote the achievement of positive outcomes for service users and carers through the delivery of good quality, flexible and responsive services and ensure that continuity of care and the importance of a skilled and competent workforce are fully taken into account, and further notes COSLA’s intention to tackle variation on charging via its fundamental review of the cost of care.