 Ar bobl i ddechrau, diwethefyd, rydyn ni'n dweud dechrau am mwy o ddweud o ddegon iawn, yn oedrygiadau, bobl i ddegon iawn, a i ddechrau a lleoedd yn mynd i ddechrau i ddechrau fel y cerdducion cyfosig a chydnodd. Rydym ni'n oedwch mor gael o ddegon iawn a ydych yn eu hwnnw i wedi ein gwybod yn roi'r gweithasol yn cyfosig, ac oedd yn geithredu iawn? I thank Martin Whitfield for his point of order, and it was my intention to return to that, and I will do so now. I will return to Martin Whitfield's point of order, which is on the subject of the statement that we are about to discuss being available to others before it was available—well, the report that is the subject of the statement was available to others before it was available to members. The Minister for Parliamentary Business advised the Bureau last night that, due to an inadvertent error, details of the report might enter the public domain before being brought to the chamber. The Bureau decided in light of that, that the statement could be brought forward to today. Given the importance of the subject and uncertainty about whether all members have had sufficient opportunity to consider the full detail on this occasion, I will allow the statement to be made. I have made this decision simply to ensure that all members are able to ask questions off the Cabinet Secretary on an equal footing. I have made it very clear my expectation that all significant announcements of Government policy should be made in the first instance to this chamber. My next item of business is a statement by Shirley-Anne Somerville on Scottish Government response to report by the independent adviser on education reform. The cabinet secretary will take questions at the end of her statement, so there should be no interventions or interruptions. I call on Shirley-Anne Somerville, cabinet secretary. I am grateful to the Parliamentary Bureau for agreeing to my request to bring forward the statement that I had planned to deliver tomorrow. That has been necessary due to an administrative error, where information on the content of the statement and some company in publications was inadvertently shared outside the Scottish Government. I felt that it was therefore important to bring my statement forward to attempt to mitigate the risk of this information being shared publicly and to ensure that the staff in the affected organisations were briefed appropriately. In 22 June 2021, I gave a statement to Parliament on the WECD report on Scotland's curriculum for excellence. At that time, I announced that we would replace the SQA, consider forming a new curriculum and assessment agency, remove the inspection function from Education Scotland and consider further reform to that body. I also announced Professor Ken Muir's appointment as an independent adviser on education reform, with the remit focused on providing advice on the implementation of the OECD's recommendations for structural and functional change of the SQA and Education Scotland. I am grateful for the opportunity to update Parliament further to receiving Professor Muir's report. When I asked Professor Muir to undertake this work, I encouraged him to recommend the changes needed to deliver and improve the educational experience for children and young people. I would like to put on record my sincere thanks to him for providing me with a thorough, detailed and challenging report. I am also grateful to all who took part in Professor Muir's engagements and consultation. The response to this exercise has been significant, and I am heartened by our collective commitment to education and the strength of support for change. I would also like to thank the staff, the unions and the management of SQA and Education Scotland for their constructive engagement. Staff at all levels have continued to undertake critical work, despite experiencing personal uncertainty about the future roles of their organisations. I would like to place on record my gratitude for their professionalism and their commitment. In the period ahead, it will be vital that staff in both organisations are supported to allow them to focus on their continuing crucial work. The case for reform was supported by the OECD report and has been further strengthened by Professor Muir's recommendations. As Professor Muir said in his introduction, his recommendations place children, young people and those teachers and practitioners who support their learning more firmly at the heart of the education system. With that in mind, the Scottish Government welcomes Professor Muir's report and broadly accepts his recommendations. Today, I can confirm that the SQA will be replaced and that the Scottish Government will legislate for the creation of a new non-departmental public body with responsibility for the development and awarding of qualifications. Crucially, that body will reflect the cultures and the values that we want to see embedded through our education and skills system, one that puts learners at the centre, supports our teachers and practitioners and instills integrity, fairness and accountability throughout their approach to recognising achievements in education. I agree with Professor Muir that the accreditation and regulation functions should be independent from the awarding body. However, careful consideration is required in relation to where those functions should sit, in particularly ensuring that the independence of those regulatory functions is secured. Further focus work on that aspect, drawing on the knowledge and experience that exists within the SQA, will take place over the next few months. It is often said that nothing is more important in schools than the quality of teaching and school leadership and providing the best possible support for those who work with learners no matter the setting is therefore crucial. I can confirm that we will establish a new agency building on the expertise within Education Scotland that will provide excellent leadership and support for curriculum assessment, learning and teaching, while also having a lead role in the relation to curriculum for excellence. The OECD challenged us to consider the creation of a curriculum and assessment agency. In understanding the close link to learning and teaching, we believe that all those functions should be drawn together in one national agency. I agree with Professor Muir's recommendation that a distinct function of the new agency should be responsive delivery that more consistently meets the needs of teachers and practitioners at local and regional levels. That agency will therefore have a clear set of functions, it will be teacher-facing, visible and valued by the profession it serves. I want teachers to feel that this is their agency responding to their needs and therefore to the needs of learners. An independent inspectorate will play a crucial role in Scottish education by helping to enhance the quality of teaching, learning and leadership, while also providing an objective assessment of performance. The Scottish Government intends to legislate to ensure the independence of this new inspectorate. A key early task is to establish a new model of inspection that is supportive, inclusive and able to evaluate the performance of the system itself, nationally and locally. It will be important for the inspectorate to build relationships through consultation and engagement on new approaches to inspection. I also welcome Professor Muir's recommendation in relation to the creation of a shared framework for the inspection of early learning and childcare. That proposal is a step forward. I am, however, conscious of the challenges that the ELC sector has raised regarding the dual inspection regime and will consider that recommendation further in context of the national care service reforms as we take forward work on the new inspection body. I will come forward with specific proposals to consult with the ELC sector before the summer. This consultation will take place alongside the important work of establishing the independent education inspectorate and will not delay that process. My announcements today are significant and are designed to strengthen the education landscape and to provide clarity and coherence. However, if we are to place learners at the centre of our education system, we must also reform the culture of the bodies and indeed the system itself. Professor Muir's message in that respect is challenging and we must all do more. Our renewed system must reflect the culture and values that we want to see embedded throughout. It must be a system that puts learners at the centre and provides excellent support for our teachers and practitioners, but it must also be a system where there is clear accountability—democratic accountability, organisational accountability but also accountability to the learners who have a right to expect the highest quality of learning and teaching of giving them the best chance of success. A clear and unambiguous learner focus must therefore be a feature of the way that we take this work forward. Professor Muir's report contains some hard messages from young people about their experience of education and one way to address this is to ensure that the voices are heard more clearly and more often. We need a culture and mindset that places the needs of individual learners and they are learning at the centre of decision making, all actions and all behaviours. We also need a culture and mindset that ensures that those working with learners can have their professional needs readily supported. A commitment to openness and to meeting the needs of learners and those who work with them must also be clear in the leadership of our system. The new bodies must also be future-proofed in their design. We must learn, of course, from the experience of the pandemic and must also be ready to further evolve, including because of the work on qualifications and assessment being led by Professor Louise Hayward. I understand that the last two years have been hard and that school staff are weary. However, what we have learned from the pandemic and together with the OECD reports is that there is an impetus for change. Many of those Professor Muir engaged with also felt that this was a good time to closely look at the future of education in Scotland. We will therefore lead a national discussion on the vision for a future of Scottish education and will appoint an independent facilitator to assist with that work. I am committed to working with everyone in education to accelerate efforts to achieve excellence and equity for Scotland's children and young people and I will seek to engage as many interests as possible as we take this forward. I hope that we can work together, not on a Scottish Government's vision for education but for a vision for education that we share. That vision can build on existing commitments, such as the OECD recommendations, the national improvement framework, the Scottish attainment challenge, empowerment and work that has already been undertaken across tertiary employer and wider skills and learning landscapes, as well as the important principles developed in Professor Muir's report. I hope that we all share a determination post-pandemic to also intensify efforts to close the poverty-related attainment gap and tackle variation in outcomes that are achieved by children in different parts of the country. Today, I have announced the creation of three new education bodies underpinned by new values and new governance. I have also announced my intention to work in partnership to build a new vision for Scottish education. Those changes are significant and are designed to improve outcomes and build trust in the Scottish education system. Our system is much to be proud of but needs to evolve and to improve. At the same time, I fully appreciate that the decisions that I have announced today will have a direct impact on the staff of both the SQA and Education Scotland. I want to thank them for their continued willingness to deliver in a time of change and I emphasise my assurance that there will be no compulsory redundancies as a result of reform. I am fully committed to continuous and meaningful engagement with all those affected by the reform and will be establishing a forum between the Scottish Government, the SQA and Education Scotland and their trade unions to ensure that all staff are involved throughout the process. Some changes will take time, but I want to move through the agenda at pace with operating models for new bodies in place by the end of this year. I will be discussing the next steps with a wide range of stakeholders, as well as the Scottish Education Council and the International Council for Education Advisers. The work of the OECD, Professor Muir and in time Professor Hayward are providing us with an opportunity to renew key parts of our education system, reimagine the culture of the system and agree a new vision for Scottish education in a post-pandemic era. Today, I set out the key decisions in our reform journey and I now look forward to working with learners, parents, teaching and support staff, the staff from the respective agencies, our partners and members across the chamber on how those recommendations can be taken forward. The cabinet secretary will now take questions on the issues raised in her statement. I intend to allow around 20 minutes for questions after which we will move on to the next item of business. I would be grateful if members wished to ask a question where to press their request to speak buttons now. I call Oliver Mundell. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I may start, along with just about everyone in Scotland, by thanking the cabinet secretary for advance sight of her statement or should I say press summary. Whether you read its contents online or heard about them in this chamber, they are just as depressing and hollow. The SNP has fritted away another opportunity to fix our broken education system. After 15 years of neglect on their watch, Scotland's education system requires a major overhaul, not a rebranding of the SQA in Education Scotland, mascarading as serious change. The public are not going to be fooled by this spin when they recognise the magnitude of the problems in education that this SNP Government has created and exacerbated. Pupul's teachers and parents were promised a new strategy, but it seems that the SNP is only willing to commit cosmetic changes rather than addressing the failures at the heart of our education system. The idea that the SQA will continue to play a role until 2024 and will have the chance to shape and influence the replacement is outrageous and speaks to the overconfidence that ministers continue to have in their own agencies. Where is the leadership and vision? Where is the ambition for this and future generations of Scots? How on earth can we trust the same SNP Government who have diminished Scottish education to restore it when they fail time and time again to rise to the scale of the challenge? Don't our young people deserve more than this? I would say to Mr Mundell that we have broadly accepted Professor Muir's recommendations. He made quite happily attack the Government at will, but, to be honest, he also does a disservice to Professor Muir and the work that has been undertaken, as well as the consultation that he spent an exceptionally great deal of time undertaking. That is why we have committed to taking forward the recommendations that we have. It is important that we involve the staff of those agencies. I appreciate that people will have different views on both those agencies and decisions that have been taken in the past, but there are staff who work there who are exceptionally knowledgeable and expert at the areas of work. Of course I think that the staff themselves should play a part in having a view on what happens with the functions that we are talking about here, as will external stakeholders, trade unions, parents and young people. However, I hope that everyone agrees that the functions that are carried out by the organisations are all required and that we need those functions in the future. Therefore, the question is about the structure, the culture and the governance that are underpin those functions. I have spoken about the culture and values and my commitment to a new Government. I want to work with the staff and external stakeholders and, as I said, members across the chamber to see what we can now do to ensure that those culture and values are in pin within our education system and the learners right at the centre. If members are saying that the functions should be organised incorrectly, I am more than happy to hear some of the details about how we should do that differently, but if they are not, then what they are talking about is how we move forward with this, then I would genuinely welcome, even with Mr Mundell, the opportunity to work together to achieve the type of system that I have spoken about today with new governance, new values underpinning that commitment within the agencies that I have spoken about. Myrton Wittfield Michael Marra And thanks to Twitter, the Scotsman, the Scottish Youth Parliament and so many more for an advanced site of the report. This statement should have started with an apology for why we have arrived at this point and a little bit of humility as to the mess the Government has created. We should place on record our thanks to the SQA and Education Scotland staff who have used their commitment and expertise to tirelessly work through the pandemic, like Scotland's young people. They have been shamefully let down by their leadership of the organisations and the ministers of this Government. Given the level of expectation and engagement with the report, it is unfathomable that the Government would do anything but accept and fool the recommendations that it sets out. The shambles this week alone make clear that the SQA cannot possibly be left to preside over another generation of senior phase pupils when the cabinet secretary has made clear today that it is not fit for purpose. Simply put, this cannot be a rebrand of the organisation as it appears to be. As for the sorrowful lack of personal vision or ideas from this Government, the new crowdsourced vision for education joins the swollen ranks of reviews and working groups doomed to produce nothing. I have three questions for the cabinet secretary. Will she ensure that the current management of the SQA, not the staff, the management, is gone this week and will have no role in the new organisations? Will she work with those benches as we have set out in the past to move more quickly on the process of reform to often delayed? Will she move to immediately establish an independent inspectorate for schools as a precursor to the full inspectorate given the collapse in school inspections in Scotland? I can absolutely say that this is not a rebranding exercise and I won't go over the reasons for that except, of course, to point to the importance of the governance that we are putting in place. I am sorry that the cynical nature of the member's views on crowdsourcing opinions. I would take that as consultation and I would take that as working together. It is what Governments are always told to do is that we ensure that the Scottish Government does not say what the vision is for education, but we work with other people to develop that vision. It is something that came strongly through the Mure consultation and it is something that I hear very, very loud and clear from stakeholders themselves. Again, I appreciate that people have concerns and they have made it loud and clear about the current management within the SQA, but I have to say with a greater respect to say suck the management seven weeks before exam start is not a responsible part for Government to play seven weeks to go and we will just take the heads away from it. I think that that is deeply irresponsible and, of course, the SQA, including its leadership, as well as its staff, will continue to work exceptionally hard to deliver the diets of exams in a few weeks' time. I have spoken about my desire to move quickly on that issue and to see what can be done to expedite those timetables. I would point out that it will take time if some of those issues are going to go through as legislation. Again, I think that it is right that I am laying the foundations for the new agencies today, but a great deal of the detail has yet to be agreed. Over the past few weeks, I have been asked by trade unions not to make too many detailed announcements today, but to take that as a starting point to work with them. That is what I have been asked to do and that is what I have done. Next is, of course, the work on the operating models and that consultation. A bill takes time to go through this Parliament quite rightly, and I do not think that it would be responsible to make changes to the SQA just before an exam diet. If Opposition members do not like the timetable that I am laying out, I am genuinely interested in what they think I should cut the consultation with external stakeholders or parliamentary scrutiny. Whilst reform is necessary, it is clearly an uncertain time for the staff directly involved, and we must take their anxieties seriously. What assurances can the cabinet secretary provide to staff at Education Scotland and the SQA that the Scottish Government will ensure job security, champion the principles of fair work and undertake meaningful engagement with staff throughout the reform process? I said in my statement that one of my major concerns as we go through this process is, of course, the impact on staff and the uncertainty that any change in reform process brings. In December, I made a commitment through a reform process that we would look at the terms and conditions of staff and ensure that they were protected. Of course, as I mentioned in my statement, there will be no compulsory redundancies because of the reform process. That absolutely does remain the case, and I commend the staff for continuing to work during these really difficult and uncertain times. I understand that what does that mean for us? Information note has been shared with staff today, often named background in the process so far about the next steps and what that means for them. I will give my personal commitment, as well as the commitment of my officials, of course, to work very closely with all staff and, very importantly, with their trade union representatives as we go through this process to pay due respect to the staff, the expertise that they have and how that can be best utilised during this process. Before we come to the next question, I would be grateful if we could make sure that questions and responses are short and succinct, as many members would like to get in. I call Megan Gallacher. It was reported this morning that the SQA and Education Scotland will be scrapped and replaced with a new qualifications body and agency by summer 2024. How can the Scottish Government guarantee a smooth transition to a new qualifications body to ensure that young people and teachers do not have to endure yet further chaos to the examination diet that we have experienced in recent years? Furthermore, does the cabinet secretary think that it is reasonable that young people have to wait for yet another Government report to find out the changes to the education system? I have laid out the foundations, as I have said, for those new agencies today, but I would go to the point where I have spoken particularly to trade unions over the past few weeks and they have made very clear to me their desire for this not to be complete from Government today, but that we continue to work with them on the details of us. Again, I think that that is the right way to make policy to listen to the professional associations, to listen to young people, and that is what I am determined to do. The member raises a very important point about the transition process. The staff, including the leadership of the both organisations, have incredibly important work to do. They need to be supported in the transition process so that we can ensure that young people and staff will be supported during the transition process. That is why we are looking at the operation models very quickly and at what can be done around shadow organisations to make sure that we are moving seamlessly into that process, but I will be able to report back further on that to Parliament in due course once we have further discussed that very importantly with the trade unions and with stakeholders. Stuart McMillan, to be followed by Martyn Whitfield. I welcome Professor Muir's recognition that the education system must reflect the principles of subsidiarity and genuinely empower teachers and practitioners. How will that be ensured in the new institutional landscape? Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills I mentioned in my statement that this agency needs to look, feel and be at the teachers' agency. By default, it will be an agency of government, but I really want to ensure that, through the governance structures that are being set up around this, teachers feel that the new agency that will replace Education Scotland will be the teachers' agency. That is very important to me and that is part of the empowerment agenda that we have. As I said, a great deal of work is still to be done around that structure and Governments. I am determined to work with teachers and their trade unions to ensure that we embed that type of culture and structure that I have spoken about and importantly how the governance can work to ensure that we deliver up on that. Martin Whitfield to be followed by Bob Dorris. A young person who started high school at the start of this pandemic will have left before any change discussed today will be seen. The Cabinet Secretary has spoken about an operational model by the end of this year and the Scottish Government has said that it will broadly accept most of the recommendations. Can we have a Government debate where we can listen to why only broad acceptance is being done and when will the draft bill creating the executive non-departmental public body be published and when will the bill guaranteeing independence of the inspectorate be published? I certainly hope that that can be done as expeditially as possible, but much of that will, of course, depend on the consultation that we are about to undertake to ensure that we are getting the detail of that right. Taking one example, there are a number of views within the chamber—never mind outside the chamber—on governance structures, for example, of the SQA and, indeed, of the new body that will replace Education Scotland. What is the role of teachers? What is the role of young people within that? We, of course, need to look at some of the reports that have been had in the past about where we need to learn from previous experience both with the SQA and Education Scotland on governance matters. I am very determined to give one example of that, to be able to work with unions and stakeholders on that. I point to the timetable and say that I would like to make it as short as possible, but if we need to consult and get a bill through Parliament, then that does, unfortunately, take time, but it is quite right that it does so. If members have suggestions about how that could be expedited, I am more than happy to have those discussions, but the consultation is exceptionally important, as is the parliamentary scrutiny that will happen as we discuss some of the different options that we have, for example, on governance. Bob Doris, to be followed by Willie Rennie. Presiding Officer, the statement outlines significant organisational change over the next couple of years. However, young people sit to exams in just a few weeks' time to certainty and the need to stability. Can the cabinet secretary assure those pupils and students right across Scotland who are sitting to exams this year that the exam diet remains on track and will be unaffected by the reform process that is currently under way? I think that it is very important that I can reassure learners that the reform process that is under way will not impact on the exam diet that is due to start very soon. I know that both the senior leadership and staff within SQA are determined to be able to take that process forward in a professional manner to ensure that learners have a smooth process to take part in it, and I wish them every success to those learners when they do so. The SNP Government wasted years dragging its feet on breaking up Education Scotland and scrapping the SQA. Meanwhile, Scottish education slipped down the international rankings, so reform is urgent yet everyone will need to wait for another two years before we get the change that we have been crying out for. Can the minister guarantee that there will be new leadership of the organisations, or is it going to be the same top people with different roles? Structural reform is not enough, so is the new focus of the education agency be on producing top-down policy direction or acting as facilitators for teachers to discuss and develop the curriculum? I have mentioned a number of times in my statement my absolute desire for the agency not to be seen or to be top-down but to be something that is absolutely responsive to the needs of teachers. I think that that is a very important and significant change that we can make. I know that this is something that Education Scotland has been working on, but I think that this is an opportunity to take this to the next level. Again, the leadership of both organisations will remain critical, as the organisations have vital roles within the education system. The design of an appropriate leadership structure to support delivery of the agreed functions in the new agencies is a priority to be decided. Once that is agreed by the Scottish ministers, we will ensure that the new bodies are appropriately staffed and led and that processes around recruitment where appropriate are carried out. I understand that it was the OECD that recommended that we should explore assigning curriculum and assessment to a specialist stand-alone agency. Can the cabinet secretary explain why she has adopted the approach and how she sees it being different from what we have now? Professor Muir set out in his report that, in his opinion, a specialist body that just focuses on curriculum and assessment would not be enough to deliver the improved outcomes that he wishes to see for learners and, indeed, so does the Government. He has proposed a single agency with a broader remit, and we are happy to take up that recommendation and establish that new agency for Scottish education. The work that Professor Muir has done in the consultation to ensure that we can bring roles and responsibilities together will help with one of the challenges, which the OECD rightly pointed out, around some confusion about roles within Scottish education and, therefore, the leadership within Scottish education. I think that what Professor Muir has recommended around the new body will very much tackle some of those challenges that the OECD pointed out. One of the themes in the report is that pupils, parents and carers, and particularly teachers, do not feel respected or trusted by the SQA in Education Scotland. Does the cabinet secretary therefore agree that they should all be directly involved in the permanent governance structures of the new agencies, not just in the initial set-up phase and not just through arm's length advisory arrangements? As I said earlier, one of the areas where there are a variety of different views about how we can bring pupils and teachers best into this and where that fits into the process, I am absolutely determined that that is a permanent feature, certainly not just in the consultation and not just in the set-up process. It is a matter of how that is done rather than should it be done. I think that we just need to work through the details of it to ensure, of course, that the structures are in place for good Governments. Members across the chamber, including Mr Gray, will have very passionate opinions on that. I am more than happy to work with any member who has a view on the governance structures that they should have within the new organisations. Rona Mackay to be followed by Stephen Kerr. I am keen to know how young people can be central to the future decision-making of the education system and how the Scottish Government will ensure that learners are central to not just the process of this reform but in the years to come the decision-making of institutions that are outlined today. I have responded to my answer with Ross Greer, so I will not repeat it, but it is important that we have that directional change that Professor Muir has discussed in his report about putting learners at the centre of everything that we do. The challenge for Government and Parliament, as the bill will progress around those agencies, is how we turn that into reality and how we can embed that within a governance structure to ensure that we can use governance as a way of developing that culture and mindset. Stephen Kerr. Another week, another educational omni shambles from this clapped-out Government. Appendix B of the report is a revelation. If anyone has any doubt about the failure of 15 years of SNP Government, read the key findings of the public consultation. Among those conclusions and inputs were fears that were expressed that the proposed reforms could end up consisting of system changes that simply rebrand the current system rather than providing any meaningful cultural change. The enhanced vision of the new independent inspectorate body will need resources, so will the cabinet secretary ensure that the resources are made available which cannot yet be another project that is announced and that no money is set aside to make it happen? I have made very clear that this is not a rebranding exercise. There are three new agencies with new cultural values and new governance structures to support those cultural values, and I am determined to work with others to ensure that we can embed that where necessary in legislation. Of course, the inspectorate body, as it exists at the moment, is resourced, and we will ensure that the new inspectorate body, when it is set up, is fully resourced to carry out the functions that it is required to do by the statute that will be passed by this Parliament.