Nicola Sturgeon: Our manifesto will put children first

It’ll be available on our website for anyone who wants to read it - and I’d encourage you to do so.

We’ve been working hard to produce our policy programme for the years ahead – and we’ve listened carefully to what voters, businesses, unions, community groups and others think their government’s priorities should be.

One thing that everybody wants is for their government to take decisions that are not just right for the short term – but for the next decade and beyond.

In particular, if we can narrow the attainment gap between children from our most and least deprived communities, we’ll make real inroads into tackling many of the challenges Scotland faces.

So that’s why you’ll see children and young people at the centre of SNP plans – building on the work we’ve been undertaking in government.

Let me give you a few examples.

We plan to introduce a ‘baby box’ for every newborn child in Scotland. This will be an adaptation of a successful scheme in Finland, offering essential items for a child’s first weeks including bedding, clothing, sleeping mat and books. Cleverly, the box itself can be used as a basic crib or travel cot.

As well as a practical support package for newborn children, the baby box has been shown in other countries to encourage expectant mothers to take up ante-natal care at an earlier stage, contributing to reduced infant mortality and lower stillbirth rates.

This will be a universal benefit, as we want to ensure that all babies have access to these essential items – but we’ll also do more to target support at low-income households.

The Sure Start Grant was an excellent way of targeting support to parents of newborn kids in low-income households, and it was frankly bewildering that the Tories slashed it.

But with new powers being devolved to the Scottish Parliament, we’ll create a new Early Years and Maternity Allowance, which will not only restore what was taken away by the Tories, but expand support.

We’ll increase the payment for the birth of a first child, from £500 to £600, and also restore the £300 payments for second and subsequent children that were cut by the Coalition Government.

Finally, we’ll introduce payments of £250 for low-income families at other stages in children’s lives – when they begin nursery and again when they start school.

These are important interventions in the very early stages of a child’s life – but the most significant investment the SNP will make is in a transformational increase in childcare provision.

We know that access to good quality, flexible childcare is hugely important not just to parents, but also to the educational development of our kids.

We’ve increased free childcare by almost half - from 412 hours to 600 hours, as well as extending it to vulnerable 2-year-olds.

If we’re re-elected, we’ll almost double the current availability to 1,140 hours – or 30 hours a week.

As we do this, we’ll focus just as much on quality as on quantity, with investment in teaching skills - especially in our most deprived areas - as well as in bricks and mortar.

And we’ll also ensure that nursery children have access to free meals, building on our successful introduction of universal free meals across P1-P3.

Another significant investment we will be making will be in our Attainment Challenge Fund. One of the earliest actions I took when I became First Minister was to establish this fund, designed to raise school standards among the most disadvantaged young people.

It’s already helping improve literacy and numeracy in over 300 primary schools and the early signs are so encouraging that we’ve decided to significantly expand it.

Over the course of the Parliament, the SNP will invest an extra £750m in raising attainment, with much of the funding going directly to headteachers in deprived areas, who can decide how best to use these additional resources – be it extra teachers, classroom assistants, equipment, out of school activities and more.

The real benefits of these investments will not be seen for many years to come, but we are not taking decisions for one day’s headlines – we have a long-term vision to make Scotland a fairer, and more prosperous nation.

In just over two weeks people across Glasgow will choose who they want to form the next Government and who should be First Minister. If I’m lucky enough to win your support you have my solemn promise that I will always put the people of this city and the people of Scotland first - and that includes making a real difference for all of our children.