Seòmar agus comataidhean

It would be useful to have that data.

No—it is on the cabinet’s secretary’s last point. The committee was moved significantly by that evidence and the need for urgent action. We heard about one individual who was in prison as a result of not appearing as a witness, and we know about the lengths of the delays. Every day that that individual spends in prison affects their future life chances. Can you provide assurances that there is a sense of urgency from Government ministers and that they are doing something about the issue, rather than just reviewing the situation?

However, do you accept that the legislation is modelled on the powers that were put in place for the pandemic that we are still in?

If I can, convener, I will close with a short question.

That opens up a whole pile of questions, but I have had my time.

It is just that a couple of fairly large nurseries in my area have closed, which has created a lot of problems for people. I recognise that some of that is to do with behaviour changes in families, but such closures make the business models perhaps less sustainable than they previously were. It feels like a moment of fairly major change in how people are accessing childcare and nursery education, but you think that that has been taken on board in the work that has been done.

Cabinet secretary, you mentioned that you will endeavour to seek consensus and that you will take your time—that is one of the things that you said. One of the committee’s witnesses last week found it quite difficult to understand why you would not wait to take on board the conclusions of a public inquiry that has been established to determine what powers there should be and why we are talking about a sequence in which we are legislating and then thinking about the situation. Can you answer that question for them?

Last week, I asked Paul Little of Colleges Scotland and Alastair Sim of Universities Scotland what specific problem they felt that the Government was trying to solve with the legislation. Neither of them could answer that question—in fact, one of them said that they were

“at a ... loss to understand”—[Official Report, Education, Children and Young People Committee, 2 March 2022; c 7.]

the purpose of what was being proposed in the legislation.

That response came from members of the Government’s education recovery group—people who are intimately involved in this work. Do you not have a job to do in partnership working to convince key stakeholders that the legislation is necessary, and that it will help people rather than harm them?

More generally. After all—and in line with Willie Rennie’s questions—if the nursery is not there, eligible two-year-olds will not be able to access the offer. Do you undertake any exercises to understand the health of the sector?

I have no problem with the instrument as it stands, but I noted your comments on the relationship between uptake and local government funding pressures. In going through the process, do you monitor or assess the sector’s financial health and the sustainability of the businesses in the area to ensure that access exists?