Chamber and committees

Response from Scottish Government to letter from Convener regarding OECD draft report

Letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills

Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills
Shirley-Anne Somerville MSP

Stephen Kerr MSP
Convener of the Education, Children and Young People Committee

08 March 2022

Dear Stephen,

Thank you for your letter dated 4 March 2022 asking me to provide further detail on the rationale behind the Scottish Government’s response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to release the draft OECD report and the SG response to the draft.

The OECD report, “Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence: Into the Future”, is an independent review carried out by an independent and internationally respected body. The report, which was published in full on 21 June 2021, backed curriculum for excellence, and the Scottish Government has accepted its 12 recommendations as part of our commitment to continuous improvement.

As you note in your letter, the OECD gave evidence to the Committee at its meeting on 8 September 2021 when Dr Beatrix Pont was questioned on the process around the sharing of draft reports ahead of a final report being published. The evidence given by Dr Pont made clear that the fact checking of draft OECD reports is a standard and important part of the OECD process to ensure the factual accuracy of the final independent report.

The draft report was subject to an OECD ‘confidential’ marking and was shared on that basis with the Scottish Government. Indeed, the OECD’s rules and established practice prohibits the sharing of confidential material. It is the OECD’s clear view that disclosure of such draft working documents would significantly undermine free exchange between OECD Members and the Secretariat and therefore greatly impede the organisation’s ability to conduct its work.

The Scottish Government, of course, takes its FOI responsibilities very seriously and we remain committed to delivering transparency in all that we do. In the case of FOIs relating to the draft OECD report and comments on it, we have applied an exemption regarding confidential information obtained from another international organisation. This is currently subject to the appeal process, is being considered by the Scottish Information Commissioner, and we await the conclusion of that process.

Even though the draft report is in the public domain following a release by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), the OECD remains of the view that the Scottish Government should not release the information we hold as that would run counter to OECD rules.

I am clear that Scotland is fortunate to have benefitted from the OECD’s work in the education space which is seen as expert, trusted and standard setting. The suggestion made by Mr Mundell and others in the Chamber on 24 February, that the Scottish Government can somehow manipulate an internationally renowned organisation such as the OECD into changing the content of an independent report, discredits the OECD and the very commendable work that it has done.

Shirley-Anne Somerville