Parliamentary News Release

062/2003

Wednesday 8 October 2003

PARLIAMENT UNVEILS PLANS FOR HOLYROOD CRÈCHE FACILITY

Parents with young children visiting the Holyrood Parliament building on parliamentary business will be able to make use of an 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, crèche service it was announced today.

The facility and opening hours proposed by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body will cater for pre-school children aged between 0 – 5 years. A contract is expected to be in place by the end of the year.

John Scott MSP, member of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) who has been closely involved in the development of the crèche service said:

“It makes sense for the Holyrood crèche facility to start off specifically targeted at parents with young children, as this is where we can make an immediate impact in removing barriers to participating in Parliament’s work.

“The crèche arrangements that we intend to put in place should also allow us the flexibility to expand the service to include older age groups at a later date, should the demand be there. This is something we will monitor closely.”

The SPCB intends to launch the crèche facility with a maximum of 10 children at any given time, in line with the numbers predicted by the Parliament’s independent market research.

Fellow SPCB member Duncan McNeil MSP who has also worked closely on the crèche service added:

“ We understand that this will be the only public facility of its kind in Europe. The crèche is an important part of Parliament being open and accessible to the people of Scotland. For parents with young children, this service could be the crucial difference between making your views known to Parliament in person or being excluded from the democratic process.”

Last year the Scottish Parliament announced that Holyrood is expected to become Europe’s first Parliament to provide crèche facilities specifically for the children of visitors. Research conducted by the Scottish Parliament revealed that Germany, Greece and Sweden all had crèches, but were for Members and staff.

Visitors who are attending parliamentary business will be able to pre-book access to the crèche, but there will also be scope for ad-hoc admissions.

For further information the media contact is:

Eric MacLeod: 0131 348 5389
email: eric.macleod@scottish.parliament.uk

For public information enquiries, contact: 0131 34 85000

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