Education and Skills Committee

Meeting date: Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Official Report 611KB pdf

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Petition

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National Guidance on Restraint and Seclusion in Schools (PE1548)

The next item of business is the committee’s first consideration of petition PE1548, by Beth Morrison, on national guidance on restraint and seclusion in schools. The Public Petitions Committee has considered the petition over a number of years, during which it has held evidence sessions with the petitioner, the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland and the former Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills.

Paper 3 sets out the background to the issues raised in the petition, and the work of the Public Petitions Committee is set out in the options section. The Public Petitions Committee has asked this committee to keep a watching brief on the Scottish Government’s progress in this area.

Given the committee’s sustained work in support of children with additional support needs in school education, I suggest that it monitors the Government’s work in this area for the rest of the current parliamentary session. In addition, this year the committee plans to conduct two inquiries that will cover, in part, support for those with additional support needs in school education. A number of options in that respect are set out in our papers, but before we make any decision I invite comments from members. I know that Gail Ross, who is also a member of the Public Petitions Committee, would like to contribute.

Thank you, convener. As you said, the Public Petitions Committee has considered the petition at length. At the end of last year, the cabinet secretary told us in evidence that there had been an

“agreement with the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland that the Scottish Government will produce new national guidance that will provide a clear human rights-based policy on physical intervention and seclusion in Scottish schools. That will sit in the suite of documents in the ‘Included, Engaged and Involved’ series that places at its core positive relationships and behaviour and early intervention and prevention to minimise the use of physical intervention and seclusion.”—[Official Report, Public Petitions Committee, 19 December 2019; c 22.]

He confirmed the timescale for the development, consultation and publication of the guidance and said that he anticipated that it would be published in January 2021.

We also talked about putting the guidance on a statutory footing. Unfortunately, we do not currently have the powers to do so, but the cabinet secretary agreed to consider commissioning a piece of work to make that possible alongside the production of the guidance, so that we will not have to wait to see whether it will be followed; we would be able to start that process as the guidance is rolled out.

The Public Petitions Committee agreed to pass the matter to this committee, for two reasons. First, we are planning to do some work on initial teacher education and additional support needs. Secondly, we will be able to hold the Government to account; ensure that we have a watching brief to see that the guidance is produced to the timescale that we have been offered; and obtain any feedback that we can from the Government on how it is working in schools.

Do other members have any comments?

I have a brief comment. First, I thank Gail Ross for providing that useful insight.

Restraint and seclusion is a hugely important issue that goes to the heart of young people’s ability to receive the education to which they are legally entitled. The work that we are about to carry out will provide answers to a number of our questions. However, it would also be worthwhile for us to write to the cabinet secretary, as suggested in the clerk’s paper.

I know that work is being undertaken on autism as part of the education brief, and that a separate piece of work is being carried out on the same topic under the health portfolio. If the committee could ask about the degree to which the subject is being considered by the groups that the Government has convened, that would be a useful step.

I thank both members for those helpful contributions. Is the committee content to pursue all the options set out in our background paper, including writing to the cabinet secretary and adding such work to our work programme?

Members indicated agreement.

Is the committee content to keep the petition open while we pursue the agreed work?

Members indicated agreement.

11:54 Meeting continued in private until 12:03.