Scottish Parliament – Sept. 3, 2026 – 4

S7M-01022.4: As an amendment to motion S7M-01022 in the name of Shirley-Anne Somerville (Eradicating Child Poverty, the Scottish Government’s Defining Mission), insert at end“;

calls for action to ensure that families, particularly in rural communities, do not face challenges in accessing childcare services with parents and guardians having real choice and flexibility over how to organise their lives and fewer barriers to work;

acknowledges that, by providing a choice, parents are enabled to return to work if they want, boosting family incomes, tackling child poverty and growing the economy;

believes that access to early learning and childcare (ELC) would be enhanced by introducing fairer rates for private, voluntary and independent providers of ELC to cover the actual costs of delivering high-quality ELC;

further believes that the Scottish Government commitment in its Programme for Government to invest in independent providers does not go far enough, and calls on it to fully close the funding gap between independent and local government providers of ELC and to ensure that parents have sufficient access to childcare provision wherever they are in Scotland.”

Original motion(S7M-01022): That the Parliament notes the publication of the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government, Ambitious for Scotland, and its actions aimed at eradicating child poverty and supporting families with the cost of living;

recognises the ambition to go further by transforming the childcare offer for families, delivering a £2 bus fare cap across all of Scotland, and investing record public sector funding in affordable housing;

welcomes the focus on ensuring support for families is integrated, person-centred and accessible, including through delivery of the £20 million Whole Family Support Third Sector Fund;

supports the commitment to build on action set out in the Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan for 2026-31, which is estimated to keep 100,000 children out of relative poverty this year, and to going further and faster so that every child has the chance to succeed regardless of their circumstances, and commits to working together to drive continued progress toward the eradication of child poverty in Scotland.