The Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee will conclude its work this Parliament in March 2026 ahead of the next Scottish Parliament election. So the Committee has time to complete its work, it has agreed not to consider petitions submitted after 10 October.
The Committee will continue to meet but given the volume of petitions and agreed work programme it is unlikely that the Committee would be able to meaningfully progress work on petitions submitted after 10 October ahead of the election. Petitions lodged after this date will not fall when the Parliament is dissolved and will be for the successor committee to consider in the new session.
If you are seeking urgent action or policy change please contact one of your 8 MSPs or the Scottish Government directly.
Closed petition PE2111: Fund early learning and childcare from 9 months
Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to provide families with financial support for early learning and childcare when their children reach 9 months old.
Background information
Maternity pay ends after 9 months, which is when many women return to work. Many families need to pay for early learning/childcare for over 2 years and this is simply not an option for many others.
This cost often leaves many women having to give up work, and that leads to many families struggling to survive with mounting debt, stress and crossing over the poverty line.
We are asking the Scottish Government to implement funding for working families when their children reach 9 months of age, enabling more people to get back into work and have a better quality of life.
The SNP website has an extremely vague description of their plans for extending funding, but there are no dates or details on what their plans are.
In England, funding has become available for working families with children aged from 9 months old. We are asking them to take swift, decisive action and to implement the same policy.
This petition was considered by the Scottish Parliament
9,321 signatures