Written Question · S1W-15111 · Session 1
What plans it has to initiate a national inquiry into the pay and conditions of nursery nurses with a view to producing a report and recomm…
The question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to initiate a national inquiry into the pay and conditions of nursery nurses with a view to producing a report and recommendations.
The answer
The Scottish Executive recognises the crucial role that well qualified, highly motivated staff play in delivering quality early education and childcare services. The Executive is working hard to support skills development in the sector and improve the overall image of childcare as an attractive career for both men and women. Nursery nurses are a key group in the childcare workforce; and we are working to expand their opportunities for professional development.Last year we published Working With Children
- the first comprehensive guide to qualifications and careers in the childcare sector. We also launched our Action Plan for the Training and Development of Workers in Early Education, Childcare and Playwork; and are supporting this with close to £4 million of investment in skills. The Action Plan will support workforce expansion and contribute to our commitment in Programme for Government to train 5,000 new childcare workers by 2002.The establishment of the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care and the Scottish Social Services Council will also ensure that quality remains at the heart of our agenda for all care services.Last year we also set up the Early Education and Childcare Forum, through which selected professionals from across the early years sector provide an integrated source of advice on childcare and pre-school education to ministers. The forum, which I chair, is an important vehicle for highlighting key early years issues and contributing to future policy development.Together, the Social Services Council and the Early Education & Childcare Forum will be taking forward issues of consistency and tackling the complex issues developing at a local level as a result of recent expansion.The pay and conditions of nursery nurses, though, remain a matter for their employers
- the local authorities and organisations in both the private and voluntary sectors. The Executive has no role in the negotiations and no plans to initiate a national inquiry.
- the first comprehensive guide to qualifications and careers in the childcare sector. We also launched our Action Plan for the Training and Development of Workers in Early Education, Childcare and Playwork; and are supporting this with close to £4 million of investment in skills. The Action Plan will support workforce expansion and contribute to our commitment in Programme for Government to train 5,000 new childcare workers by 2002.The establishment of the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care and the Scottish Social Services Council will also ensure that quality remains at the heart of our agenda for all care services.Last year we also set up the Early Education and Childcare Forum, through which selected professionals from across the early years sector provide an integrated source of advice on childcare and pre-school education to ministers. The forum, which I chair, is an important vehicle for highlighting key early years issues and contributing to future policy development.Together, the Social Services Council and the Early Education & Childcare Forum will be taking forward issues of consistency and tackling the complex issues developing at a local level as a result of recent expansion.The pay and conditions of nursery nurses, though, remain a matter for their employers
- the local authorities and organisations in both the private and voluntary sectors. The Executive has no role in the negotiations and no plans to initiate a national inquiry.
In the Official Report
No contribution in the Official Report cites S1W-15111 by reference.