Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Playtime for the Labour leader
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale paid a visit to Dunbeth nursery in Coatbridge as she highlighted her party’s position on flexible childcare and local government funding.
Ms Dugdale played with youngsters at the centre on Coats Street as she outlined her call for“a legal guarantee of flexible childcare for parents in work or training”to be included in the SNP Scottish Government’s forthcoming child poverty bill.
The MSP said that cuts to local government budgets will affect the ability of councils to provide any increased free childcare provision.
Ms Dugdale said:“Affordable, flexible childcare for working families could transform our economy and slash poverty, but we can’t invest in working families in Coatbridge and across Scotland unless we stop the cuts to our local services.
“We need to invest in our country, not carry on the cuts. The SNP need to spell out how they will keep their childcare promises to working families on childcare whilst imposing huge cuts on the councils who will deliver them.”
The SNP manifesto included a commitment to almost doubling the number of hours of free early-years education and childcare to 30 hours per week, and the creation of 600 new childcare centres with 20,000 additional qualified staff.
A report from the Fraser of Allander Institute notes that the“flagship” childcare policy is expected to“cost an additional £500 million per year by the end of the parliament”; and also that“the grant to local government could be cut by around £1 billion on a like-for-like basis by 2020-21”.
Ms Dugdale added:“Labour will use the new tax powers of our Scottish Parliament to stop the cuts and invest in public services as well as grow our economy.”