Day: March 22, 2023

Views sought on school learning hours

Public consultation launched

People are being asked to share their views on a new legal minimum number of school learning hours.

If approved by Parliament, councils will be required by law to provide the equivalent of 25 teaching hours per week in primaries and 27.5 hours per week in secondaries across the school year.

Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville announced plans to introduce the measures last month to protect the school week and give parents greater certainty about the number of learning hours their children can expect to receive.

The consultation is open now and will run until June 13.

Ms Somerville said: “The school week is the backbone of our education provision and benefits all of Scotland’s children and young people. We have been clear that any changes to the school week must be based on educational benefit to pupils.

“Any measures that materially reduce the number of hours children spend learning in school could impact pupil attainment and wellbeing, and undermine our collective efforts to close the poverty-related attainment gap.

“This is an opportunity for parents, children and young people and everyone else with an interest to make their views known about the potential impact of this policy.”

Day of Reckoning? Ex-PM Boris Johnson faces Partygate grilling

Westminster’s Committee of Privileges has published written evidence submitted by Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP, ahead of hearing his oral evidence today (Wednesday).

The Committee initially received the written evidence from Mr Johnson on Monday afternoon at 2.32pm in unredacted form.

The evidence submitted had a number of errors and typos, and, a final corrected version was not submitted to the Privileges Committee until 8.02 am yesterday morning.

Redactions have been made in the published version to protect the identity of some witnesses, in consultation with Mr Johnson, particularly junior-ranking civil servants.

Mr Johnson’s written submission contains no new documentary evidence.

The Committee has set out its own views of its processes in reports published in July and September 2022. The Committee will consider carefully the further arguments made by Mr Johnson and respond to them in its final report.

Throughout this inquiry the Committee has received and followed the advice of its legal adviser, former Senior President of Tribunals and Lord Justice of Appeal Rt Hon Sir Ernest Ryder, as well as the impartial Clerks of the House. The Committee remains confident in the fairness of its processes and in its compliance at all times with the rules and practice of the House of Commons.

From the start of its inquiry the Committee has offered Mr Johnson the opportunity to provide written evidence. In its report published on 2 March 2023, the Committee set out a summary of principal issues to be raised with Mr Johnson in oral evidence, at his request, and at the same time disclosed to him all the evidence received by the Committee and the identities of all witnesses.

Mr Johnson has now provided written evidence, which can be read here.

Ahead of the oral evidence session on Wednesday, the Committee will be publishing, again by agreement with Mr Johnson, a “core bundle” of documents to which the Committee and Mr Johnson may refer in the course of the questioning.

These documents will be published on the Committee website at 9.00 am today.

The Committee of Privileges will hear oral evidence in public from Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP from 2pm today (Wednesday 22 March).

The session can be watched on Parliament TV here. There is no approximate end time for the session.