Contents
- Attendance
- Subordinate Legislation
- School Infrastructure
Subordinate Legislation
Registration of Independent Schools (Prescribed Person) (Scotland) Regulations 2017 [Draft]
I welcome everyone to the 19th meeting of the Education and Skills Committee in 2017. I remind everyone to turn mobile phones and other devices to silent for the duration of the meeting.
We have considered a draft report for the past hour and we start the public part of the session with item 2. We have a number of pieces of subordinate legislation to consider. We begin with the draft Registration of Independent Schools (Prescribed Person) (Scotland) Regulations 2017, which are subject to the affirmative procedure. Later in the meeting, we will consider the Requirements for Teachers (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2017, which cover similar ground, so there may be some discussion on that instrument during this item.
I welcome Shirley-Anne Somerville, Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science; and Shirley Anderson, policy officer, and Claire Cullen, solicitor, both from the Scottish Government. I understand that the minister would like to make a short statement.
Thank you for the opportunity to address the committee in connection with the proposed introduction of the requirement that all teachers in independent schools must be registered with the General Teaching Council for Scotland.
Members will be aware that it is our intention, as the convener said, to introduce legislation requiring that all teachers in grant-aided school are GTCS registered, which is why we have an amendment to the Requirements for Teachers (Scotland) Regulations 2005, which you will consider as a negative Scottish statutory instrument under item 4.
A priority for the Scottish Government is to improve the life chances and education of all children in Scotland. High-quality teaching and strong leadership are key features of a successful education system. By introducing a requirement for all teachers working in independent and grant-aided schools to be GTCS registered, they will be brought into line with local authority schools as a means to improve the standard of teaching across the whole of the education sector. That will offer assurance to parents that, irrespective of where their children are educated, the standards and quality of teaching staff are regulated by the GTCS. The requirement will provide schools with assurances of the standard and quality of the teachers whom they employ. It will benefit teachers through professional update, the aim of which is to support, maintain and enhance continued professionalism through professional learning.
Section 98A(5) of part 5 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 sets out the circumstances in which
“Scottish Ministers shall not be satisfied”
in their consideration of an application to register an independent school. That includes that any teacher or proposed teacher is not “a proper person” if they are, by virtue of part 5, disqualified from being a teacher, disqualified from working with children or a prescribed person.
Section 98A(6) of the 1980 act provides for the Scottish ministers to make regulations prescribing what “a proper person” should be. There is currently no requirement for teachers in independent schools to be GTCS registered, although that has been encouraged by both the GTCS and the Scottish Council of Independent Schools as an alternative to introducing regulations under section 98A(6) of the 1980 act. That section was inserted into the 1980 act by the School Education (Ministerial Powers and Independent Schools) (Scotland) Act 2004, with the policy intention of introducing compulsory GTCS registration for all teachers in independent schools; that provision was commenced on 31 December 2005. The provision in the 1980 act did not include a power to allow transitional arrangements when making regulations under section 98A(6), so an amendment was brought forward through section 26 of the Education (Scotland) Act 2016. That provision was commenced on 1 January 2017 and, in essence, provided the mechanism by which we could ensure that existing non-GTCS-registered teachers working in independent schools would remain in post.
It was clear from early discussions with stakeholders that there were concerns about how the proposals would affect non-registered teachers working in independent schools. We have listened to those views and extended the proposed transition period in the regulations from our initial two-year period to three years. We believe that that is sufficient, given the progress that has been made by the GTCS in identifying alternative routes to registration, including the introduction of provisional and conditional registration.
Individuals who achieve provisional or conditional registration would meet the proposed criteria in the draft regulations to be registered. I am aware that there are some reservations about some existing teachers achieving registration; we will continue to support the sector and the GTCS in moving forward on that.
The committee will wish to note that transitional arrangements are not required for existing teachers in grant-aided schools, as the normal practice for those schools has been to employ only GTCS-registered teachers.
The draft regulations that are in front of the committee have therefore been drafted to define a prescribed person as
“any person who is not a registered teacher”.
A registered teacher is
“a teacher whose particulars are recorded in the register maintained by the General Teaching Council for Scotland”.
The regulations have also been drafted to indicate that, from 1 October 2017, any teacher who is employed by an independent school must not be a prescribed person; to provide a transitional period of three years until 1 October 2020 for registration to be achieved by current teachers working in schools at the point that the regulations come into force; and to set out arrangements for
“consideration of an application to register an independent school”
that has been submitted to the Scottish ministers before 1 October 2017 but where the decision has not been determined.
A period of six months until 1 April 2018 has been provided for an application to be considered and, if the registration is granted, any teacher or proposed teacher on the application form who is not GTCS registered will be given three years from the date of registration of the school to meet the GTCS standards.
I move the motion—
I think that you are jumping the gun there, minister, but thank you very much for your statement.
This item is intended for questions of clarification. Both the minister and officials can answer questions under this item. I will ask the first question, on the transitional period of three years for individuals employed in independent schools before October this year. What is the rationale for the length of the transitional period and is it enough time for individuals from across the independent sector to meet requirements? I know that you referred to that issue in your opening statement.
During the consultation process we listened to some of the concerns in the sector about the length of that transitional period, which is why it has moved from two to three years. That will allow due time for every teacher to be able to receive the support from their school to become registered. I think that that shows that we have listened to the concerns in the sector and made sufficient changes in the regulations.
Thank you.
I declare an interest as a member of the GTCS. This is a welcome move because it has considerable importance in improving professionalism right across the board. I have two questions. First, can you confirm that the regulations have no effect on the impending changes to the GTCS?
They do not have any such effect. The governance review will continue, but this process is in many ways separate to that. The policy proposal and the policy purpose behind it will absolutely continue with the new arrangements in place.
So any successor body would have—
Absolutely.
My second question relates more to the potential cost of retraining. I refer in particular to special independent schools that look after some of our most vulnerable children and therefore have additional costs that relate to that support. Does the Government expect that those costs will fall on those independent schools?
I appreciate that there are some concerns about the financial impact on some schools. The first thing to bear in mind is that schools have been aware of this issue for some time, so I would expect them to have plans in place and to be aware that this is something that has been in train. However, it is something that individual schools will have to look at. The GTCS has been very supportive of the sector. It has attempted to work with it, for example on timelines and different routes to registration, and it will continue to do that. However, it is for the schools to move forward with the provisions for the teachers who are involved.
What would the process be? Small independent special schools sometimes find it very difficult to get staff. If such a school was in difficulty in the three-year period, what would you expect it to do to make an appeal?
There is on-going dialogue with the GTCS, which has been very supportive, as I said, and we expect that to continue. There is a working group to ensure that the dialogue continues; it does not stop just because the regulations have come to Parliament today. It will work with the sector to ensure that all the steps are taken so that there are no difficulties for individual teachers.
When it comes to registration, the decisions are—quite rightly—for the independent GTCS and not for ministers. However, ministers will work collaboratively with the sector and support it through working groups so that, as individual issues come to the fore, they are worked through. We expect no school to be in any difficulty by the end of the transitional arrangements.
That is helpful. I raised the issue because of a small special school in my area. As you know, the Government’s intention is that level 9 is a requirement for those who support youngsters in special schools. There is a considerable cost to that, not just for new teachers but for retraining existing staff, and I ask the Government to be aware that that can be very considerable for some small special schools.
I certainly take that on board and I expect Scottish Government officials and the GTCS to continue to work with the sector. There are some very specific issues that individual schools have concerns about, and I stress to Liz Smith that the work is on-going and that discussions are still taking place through working groups in a supportive manner to ensure that the individual aspects that need to be picked up are recognised. The GTCS has been working with the sector to provide a number of categories for registration that deal with many individual concerns but, as there are still some concerns out there, the supportive work with the sector will continue.
I note that I have had correspondence with Mark McDonald on that matter in relation to a submission that was given to me by the school.
Thank you. As there are no further comments, that concludes the evidence session on the Registration of Independent Schools (Prescribed Person) (Scotland) Regulations 2017.
Item 3 is the formal debate on motion S5M-06113, in the name of Shirley-Anne Somerville. I remind everyone that officials are not permitted to contribute to the formal debate and I invite the minister to move the motion.
Motion moved,
That the Education and Skills Committee recommends that the Registration of Independent Schools (Prescribed Person) (Scotland) Regulations 2017 [draft] be approved.—[Shirley-Anne Somerville]
Motion agreed to.
The committee must report to Parliament on the instrument. Are members content for me, as convener, to sign off on the report?
Members indicated agreement.
I thank the minister and her officials for their attendance.
10:13 Meeting suspended.10:16 On resuming—
Education Authority Annual Plan Planning Period (Scotland) Regulations 2017 (SSI 2017/165)
Requirements for Teachers (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2017 (SSI 2017/170)
Police Act 1997 (Criminal Records) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2017 (SSI 2017/171)
The next item of business is consideration of three negative instruments, which are listed on the agenda. Do members have any comments on those instruments?
Members: No.
In that case, we will move on.
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