MSPs debate wraparound care in Scotland

4 mins read

Thursday 5 June 2025

We want to say a big thank you to the 852 parent carers across Scotland who responded to our call to action to improve wraparound childcare for disabled children.

We asked parent carers to ask their MSP to take part in a special debate in parliament on 8 May.

In total, parents contacted 103 MSPs. This represents nearly three quarters of MSPs in Parliament – a great result!

Wraparound childcare – the key issues

In Scotland, local authorities have a legal duty to provide out of school and holiday care for disabled children and those with additional needs. This is also known as wraparound care.

However, our 2024 Counting the Costs research found that nearly two-thirds of parent carers have had to give up their jobs or reduce their working hours because they can’t find suitable childcare.

Is the current out of school care provision in Scotland failing families?

During the debate, MSPs highlighted families’ stories showing the impact of trying to balance care-giving with employment. Many talked about the disruption to their routines causing significant distress. The key issues families highlighted were:

  • Families are unable to find appropriate out of school care during holiday periods.     
  • There are significant reductions to local authority and third sector organisations’ budgets. They are struggling to provide suitable out of school care.
  •  There is limited or no information publicised in advance on the few available services.
  • Without a Section 23 social work assessment, many children can’t access services at all.
  • Some children get as little as 16 hours of care for the entire summer holidays.
  • Families don’t know what is on offer, how much it costs or what kind of support is provided.

Agreement that things must improve

Before the debate, the Scottish Government announced an extra £1 million from this summer to improve holiday care. However, MSPs said all 32 councils would need to share this, and it may not go far enough.

The MSPs also spoke about some good examples where local authorities were working well with families. They asked to share these more widely across other local authorities to learn from their successes.

Michael Marra MSP, who organised the debate, recommended a “best practice charter”. This would act as a checklist for local authorities with clear targets around planning, funding, and communicating with parent carers. 

Natalie Don-Innes, Minister for Children and Young People and The Promise, responding for the government, said: “I hear the frustrations and challenges families face and recognise that more must be done.” She highlighted the extra funding and said that the Scottish Government and local government are working to try and find a solution.

Further information and how you can help

There are many other individuals and organisations who continue to campaign and report on this crucial issue.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child (UNCRC Article 23) states that: “Children who have any kind of disability have the right to special care and support, as well as all the rights in the Convention, so that they can live full and independent lives”.

One Parent Families Scotland have highlighted the need to provide greater access to respite services for families with disabled children. In their May 2025 briefing, they stated that …”These services help to promote independence for children and young people and give the opportunity for parents to have a break and find, often much-needed, support.”

Read their full report.

Back in 2020, Shared Care Scotland highlighted the impact for families in their Holidays or Isolation Report. They called for ways to improve holiday activity provision and work with local and national government to find ways to improve choice and availability. This report showed that: “only 2% of parent carers felt their child was completely included in the local community. One young person described their holidays: “Nothing to do that includes me with my brothers, or friends … only things with my family. And my mum works full time and does everything for us on her own with no help from anyone. She is exhausted so we don’t want to put more pressure on her to take us places”.

Read their full report.

The debate on wraparound childcare took place thanks to a campaign by Dundee parent carer Nicola Donnelly. We know that many parent carers have similar stories. Get in touch with us at Contact Scotland [email protected] to help inform Scottish government and parliament.