Tag: Education Children and Young People Committee

Holyrood launches inquiry into Additional Support for Learning

The services that schools and local authorities provide to children and young people with additional support needs will be scrutinised by the Scottish Parliament’s Education, Children and Young People Committee.

More than a third of children and young people in Scotland’s public and grant-maintained schools have an identified additional support need. Working under the direction of the Scottish Government’s policies, local authorities are responsible for identifying, providing and reviewing the additional support needs of children and young people.

The Committee is launching its inquiry with a call for people to share their experiences of how services are provided to people with additional support needs. The Committee is keen to hear from parents, teachers, support staff, carers, pupils themselves and support organisations.

The inquiry will consider how Scottish legislation that aimed to support children and young people, including 2004’s Additional Support for Learning Act, has been implemented and is working in practice.

The Committee is particularly interested in hearing views about the presumption that children and young people should receive a ‘mainstream education’, which aims to ensure they could be included alongside their peers; the impact of COVID-19 on the availability of additional support; and what happens when people are in dispute with their local authority over the services provided to a child or young person.



Sue Webber MSP, Convener of the Education, Children and Young People Committee, said: “Earlier this year, the Additional Support for Learning Project Board told us about its role in improving the support that is available for children with additional support needs, but it acknowledged that there is not a quick fix to the recommendations laid out by the Morgan Review.

“We would like to hear what people with additional support needs, parents and carers, teachers and support organisations make of the current system and the services that local authorities and schools provide.

“If you have experience of accessing additional support for learning in mainstream education or a specialist unit, views on the impact of COVID-19 on the delivery of additional support for learning, or have been involved in discussions about the support a child or young person receives, please get in touch.”

The Committee’s call for views, which is now open, will close on 31 December 2023. Variations of the call for views are available in an Easy Read format and British Sign Language.

Disability Bill will not fully achieve it’s aims, says Holyrood Committee

A Bill that seeks to improve disabled children and young people’s transition to adulthood would not fully achieve its aims, according to report from Holyrood’s Education, Children and Young People Committee.

The Committee has been scrutinising the Disabled, Children and Young People (Transitions to Adulthood) (Scotland) Bill.

While the Committee is supportive of the aims of the Bill, it is not convinced that it will resolve the issues being experienced by disabled young people. 

During its inquiry, the Committee repeatedly heard about the challenges faced by disabled young people and their families. They said they often did not feel they were listened to by professionals, found there was nobody to take the lead on transitions and felt there was a disconnect between children’s and adult services.

Furthermore, many witnesses, including professionals working to support disabled young people, characterised the current legislative landscape as complex, cluttered and difficult to navigate.

The Committee heard that whilst the Bill sought to address this, several aspects of the Bill risked inadvertently complicating this landscape further. 

The Committee recognises, however, that doing nothing is not an option and makes a series of recommendations setting out which changes to current practice are urgently required.

During its inquiry, the Committee was also told that existing legislation and policies suffered from an ‘implementation gap’ due to limitations in resources, inconsistent practices, organisational cultures and difficulties with information sharing.


Commenting on the publication of the report, Sue Webber MSP, Convener of the Education, Children and Young People Committee, said: “We want to see the support available for disabled children and young people’s transition to adulthood improve and commend the Member for her work in bringing forward this legislation.

“This Bill has shone a light on the challenges faced by disabled young people and their families.

“However, the views we heard during our inquiry were clear. The Bill is unlikely to resolve the substantial issues that families with disabled young people are facing. The Scottish Government must urgently act to fix these issues.”

Martin Whitfield MSP dissented from the following sentence within the report:
“However, for the reasons set out in this report, the Committee is not convinced that the general principles should be agreed.”

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Changes to children’s justice system ‘would help break the cycle of offending’

A Bill which would see most 16 and 17 year olds in Scotland referred to the Children’s Hearing System, rather than the adult justice system, could help address underlying issues and stop young people from reoffending.

This is one of the findings from a report by Holyrood’s Education, Children and Young People Committee on the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill.

Stakeholders told the Committee they were broadly in favour of the changes the Bill would introduce, which include raising the age at which a young person can be referred to the Children’s Hearing System to 18.

This change would lead to more young people being referred to the Children’s Hearing System. To account for this, the Committee is urging the Scottish Government to work with Children’s Hearings Scotland to set clear targets and timescales to recruit and train more of the panel members who make legal decisions with and for children and young people.

The Committee also expressed concern that the Bill effectively establishes the age of 17-and-a-half as the cut-off date for referrals to the Children’s Hearing System. The Committee believes that this is not in the spirit of the Bill and needs to be addressed.

The Bill will still allow for a young person’s offending to be handled by the adult justice system for the most serious crimes and where it is assessed to be in the public interest to prosecute.

The Committee supported this, but has called on the Scottish Government to ensure safeguards and measures are put in place to help young people better understand and participate in proceedings, whether they are attending a Children’s Hearing or a court.

Furthermore, the Committee has insisted that updated and full costings are provided ahead of the Stage 1 vote. Social work teams in local authorities will play a key role in delivering the reforms in the Bill. However, the Committee repeatedly heard about the financial pressures that local authorities face, and the Bill does not have enough information about how the additional work they will need to do will be funded.

Sue Webber MSP, Convener of the Education, Children and Young People Committee, said: “We welcome the changes in this Bill that will ensure that 16 and 17 year olds would have access to the Children’s Hearing System.

“As we heard time and again, where a child has committed an offence it’s important to consider why this has happened and we believe, if properly resourced, this Bill will help. It will protect children from harm and help find solutions to the problems that may have led to them offending in the first place. But improvements are needed before the Bill becomes law.

“We are alarmed that referral to the Children’s Hearing System seems to have an effective cut-off at 17.5 years old. This cut-off seems to be based on the length of time it might take for a case to be processed. We want the Scottish Government to address the delays the system appears to face and ensure that support is provided up to 18 years old, as was intended.”

Another change the Bill introduces would ensure that under-18s are sent to a secure accommodation provider, instead of a Young Offenders Institution, or prison.

There was strong support from witnesses, including Gerry Michie, Governor of YOI Polmont, and Sue Brookes of the Scottish Prisons Service, who told the Committee that: “16 and 17-year-olds, as children, should not be with us. Even if the rest of the establishment was empty, those children should be somewhere else.”

However, the Committee also heard about concerns with the financial sustainability of secure care providers. Given how vital secure care is to the delivery of the reforms within the Bill, the Committee has called on the Scottish Government to urgently investigate how the changes will affect their finances ahead of the Government’s planned release of a report on secure care in 2024.

Cash call for crumbling colleges

More funding, more flexibility, and clearer priorities need to be given to Scotland’s college sector according to a report issued by Holyrood’s Education, Children and Young People Committee.

The Committee have been looking at the progress of the regionalisation of Scotland’s college system. Their new report has found that while the reforms have had some positive impacts, Scotland’s colleges are being held back by funding issues. The Committee is now urging the Scottish Government and Scottish Funding Council to do more.

The Committee is extremely concerned about the significant back log in maintenance work that Scotland’s colleges need. Its report highlights a survey from 2017, which disclosed that one third of the college estate was not wind or watertight. This will also counter any progress with the sector reaching its net zero targets.

In response, the Scottish Funding Council told the Committee that it was providing colleges with around £30 million per year for maintenance. Yet a briefing from Audit Scotland said that this figure meant there was a £321 million shortfall in maintenance funding since 2018-19.

The briefing said that maintenance needs “…pose a risk to colleges’ ability to maintain the suitability and safety of their buildings.”

Scottish Government reforms to the college landscape began in 2012, resulting in the creation of 13 college regions. It was hoped that college provision would be better aligned with employer and learner needs, helping meet national ambitions for jobs and growth.

The report finds that the reforms have had some positive outcomes. The creation of ‘colleges of scale’, which are better placed to engage with educational and economic partners, is one such positive. The report also credits regionalisation with helping to widen access to higher education.

The Committee compliments colleges for their good work in the report, noting that they support skills development and platforms for lifelong learning. The report also says colleges play a critical role in helping the Scottish Government deliver its economic strategy.

However, the financial issues identified by the report are likely to become more pronounced. Colleges must meet net-zero commitments by 2045.

To help, the report asks the Scottish Government and Scottish Funding Council to ensure colleges have greater flexibility. Changes to colleges’ finances and goals are viewed as vital in ensuring their financial sustainability and delivering on their ambitions to support both the learner and the economy.

Sue Webber MSP, Convener of the Education, Children and Young People Committee said: “Our report lays bare the shortcomings of the current funding model and the lack of flexibility our colleges have.

“During our inquiry we heard witnesses express frustration about colleges finances. The challenges colleges face will make it more difficult for them to respond to Scotland’s needs and priorities.

“However, the critical findings in our report are not a reflection on the hard work of colleges or their staff. Colleges continue to deliver high-quality, highly respected qualifications and professional training.

“Regionalisation has been, on balance, beneficial, but we want to help colleges meet the ambitions of all Scots. The Scottish Government and Scottish Funding Council must work together to ensure our colleges have more cash, more flexibility, or clearer priorities.”

Holyrood committee seeks views on proposed changes to young people’s criminal justice system

Changes to the care of children and the involvement of children in the criminal justice system are to come under scrutiny at the Scottish Parliament.

The Education, Children and Young People Committee will consider the proposals laid out in the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill and would like to hear the views of people from across Scotland.

The Bill changes how the justice system approaches offences committed by people under the age of 18. This will include allowing most 16- and 17-year-olds to attend a Children’s Hearing, rather than a court.

Changes would also be made to regulations around accommodations for young people. Under the proposals 16- and 17-year-olds, accused of or guilty of offences would not be held in Young Offenders Institutions or prisons, but instead would be sent to secure accommodation. The Bill would also change how care services providing residential accommodation to children are regulated.

The Committee is opening a call for views so it can hear the views of organisations supporting young people in conflict with the law, young people and parents. The Committee is also very interested in hearing the views of legal professionals, secure accommodation providers and victims of crime.

Following the end of the consultation the Committee plans to hold a series of evidence sessions to discuss the Bill, before reporting its findings to the Parliament later in the year.

Sue Webber, Convener of the Education, Children and Young People Committee said: “The Bill we will be scrutinising will allow all 16- and 17-year-olds to access the Children’s Hearings System for the first time.

“This aims to safeguard those at risk of harm and change how the justice system deals with young people who have committed offences. It also introduces a range of further measures designed to improve the way that children are treated, including ensuring no young person under the age of 18 will be sent to a Young Offenders’ Institution or prison.

“We want to get a thorough understanding of how the proposals in the Bill might impact on people across Scotland, including young people themselves, children’s support organisations and youth justice bodies.

“Please share your views on these proposals with our Committee before the 17 March 2023 deadline.”

Closing the Gap: are attainment measures working?

One week before the release of Scotland’s exam results, Holyrood’s Education, Children and Young People Committee is recommending that replacing Education Scotland is an opportunity to ensure that Scotland’s education agency takes ownership for closing the poverty-related attainment gap.

In its report into the Scottish Attainment Challenge, the Committee notes with concern evidence the variation in education performance across local authorities in Scotland. The report asks Scotland’s education agency to urgently investigate the variations and set out the actions it is taking to ensure consistency across the country.

Teachers are singled out for praise in the report, despite some of the challenges faced in working towards closing the attainment gap. The teachers and headteachers who spoke to the Committee during the inquiry are described as “inspirational”.

Some of the Committee’s other recommendations are around ensuring that the voices of classroom teachers, parents, carers and children and young people are at the centre of plans for attainment challenge spending. The Committee asks the education agency to monitor this so that funding is used as effectively as possible.

The report also calls on the agency to monitor how local authorities ensure stability of funding for third sector partners, take account of the needs of rural schools and make sure that schools have access to external expertise to ensure they can measure the effectiveness of their interventions.

Sue Webber MSP, Convener of the Education, Children and Young People Committee, said: “During this inquiry the Committee heard positive stories about the work being done by schools to tackle the poverty-related attainment gap.

“However, in our report, we have noted Audit Scotland’s conclusion that there has been limited progress on closing the poverty-related attainment gap and that inequalities have been worsened by Covid-19.

“It is essential that the reforms to the Government’s education agency ensure the new schools inspectorate is able to monitor the effectiveness of the implementation of plans to close the poverty-related attainment gap.”

The allocation of funding is also examined in the report. Extra funding that was initially allocated to nine ‘challenge authorities’ is now being tapered in favour of a strategy which spreads funding across Scotland.

The Committee recognises that poverty exists throughout Scotland but asks the Scottish Government to monitor the impact of the tapering of funds from the challenge authorities and to report its findings.

With regards to how funds are spent, the Committee would like to see more work done on measuring the impact. Its report asks the Scottish Government to set out how it will, as a matter of urgency, establish a national baseline for measuring progress in closing the attainment gap following the pandemic.

It also asks the Government to explain how there will be sufficient challenge to ensure that both local and national targets are ambitious.

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MSPs launch inquiry into effectiveness of Scottish Attainment Challenge funding

Funding to help schools and councils close the attainment gap is the focus of a new Scottish Parliament inquiry.
 
The Education, Children and Young People Committee will examine the effectiveness of the Scottish Attainment Challenge in raising the attainment of children from deprived backgrounds.

A range of educational programmes are supported through this funding including support for local authorities and schools. The Scottish Government has announced it will allocate £1bn from 2021 to 2026 to support closing the poverty-related attainment gap.

In launching the inquiry, the Committee is seeking views on how the funding has benefited young people in deprived areas, what difference this has made to the attainment gap so far, and what more can be done going forward.

The Committee will also look at the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the attainment of pupils across Scotland over the past two years.

Committee Convener Stephen Kerr MSP said: “Every pupil in Scotland deserves an equal chance to succeed, no matter their background.

“With funding for the Scottish Attainment Challenge set to increase, we need to ensure this money is making a real difference. That is why we are launching an inquiry to determine the impact the fund has made so far in closing the attainment gap.

“To assist with our inquiry, we want your views not only on the progress of the fund but also on how we can best measure its success. That way, we can make sure the money is getting to those who need it the most.”

Deputy Convener Kaukab Stewart MSP said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected young people across Scotland, but no group has been hit harder than those from deprived backgrounds.

“We need your help to better understand how the pandemic has impacted on the achievement of our pupils and how the announced new funding can best remedy these effects.”

The deadline for responses to the call for views is 8th February 2022.

You can submit your views to the Committee here:

The Scottish Attainment Challenge – Scottish Parliament – Citizen Space