Natalie Don MSP was appointed as minister for children, young people and keeping the promise in March 2023 by First Minister, Humza Yousaf

Humza Yousaf was confirmed as Scotland’s First Minister on 28 March 2023 taking over the reigns from Nicola Sturgeon who announced her plans to resign in February. Yousaf is Scotland’s youngest First Minister at 37 years old and the first Muslim to be the leader of a major UK party.

Mr Yousaf was backed by all 64 SNP MSPs and the seven Greens, with the two parties having a power-sharing agreement in the 129-seat parliament.

Natalie Don MSP

Natalie Don is Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Renfrewshire North and West, a constituency she grew up in.

She was selected as the SNP’s candidate for the Renfrewshire North and West constituency in November 2020 for the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.

On twitter, Don stated:

“Honoured to take on the role Minister for Children, Young People and Keeping the Promise. This role is very important to me. Between my own experiences growing up and my young family at home, I am committed to ensuring the absolute best for all our children and young people.”

Purnima Tanuku OBE, chief executive of NDNA Scotland said: “We warmly welcome the new minister Natalie Don to the Scottish Government and look forward to working with her, particularly on addressing the challenges parents and providers are facing with the cost of living and the Scottish Government’s expansion plans for funded early learning and childcare.

“The new minister will have a lot in her in-tray on the back of the First Minister’s pledges to make their expansion plans a political priority. Providers in the private and voluntary sector are struggling with rising costs and the current rates do not cover these. These challenges must be addressed before further expansion can be rolled out.

“Children must be at the centre as these plans are delivered, which means funding truly following the child. Private nurseries also struggle with the pressures of recruiting and retaining staff while competing with better wages in the public sector. We need the minister to review the impact of the disparity of funding on the workforce and efforts to maintain high quality of provision in our sector.

“The new minister also needs to look to the brilliant practice that is already delivered by the private and voluntary sector for children under three. Any expansion plans which undermine existing, good quality nurseries and are not adequately backed with sufficient investment could do more harm than good.”