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We now move on to consideration of the written evidence that we have received on the improvement in Scottish education bill. Does anybody have any comments on the submissions that have been circulated? I am sure that all members have read them.
Could an updated summary be provided each time new reports come out? They are beginning to pile up and we need a list of all of them.
Yes. That is a great idea.
I came in this morning and found all this on my desk at 10 past 9. It would be useful to get summaries as the written evidence comes in.
It is rather like collecting bubble gum cards; there is bound to be one missing from the set. I would like to know which one it is so that I can swap with Karen.
We shall continue to issue submissions and summaries as they become available. I think that that concludes this item.
There are two points for decision on paper ED/99/6/2.
Sorry, Mike. Thank you for pointing that out. Do we agree to take oral evidence on the bill?
Yes.
At this stage, do we want to invite the organisations that have been suggested? I think that we should.
I thought that St Mary's Episcopal Primary School, Dunblane was already pencilled in, as it is in my diary, although it is not at the top of my priority list.
I think that members have received letters from St Mary's.
From all of them.
I told a couple of members that the committee should invite representatives of St Mary's to attend so that we can discuss the issues with them. Rather than each of us replying and having separate discussions, it would be best to have a discussion together.
I agree entirely but, as our briefing paper suggests, we may wish to meet organisations that address concerns that the Executive is unlikely to address. That applies to many of the Gaelic organisations that believe Gaelic issues are not addressed in the bill. Could we add at least Comunn na Gàidhlig to the list, and possibly Comunn nam Parant, to determine whether they have an interest?
I would be happy with that.
I am not proposing that we add to the list, but once the bill is produced, will we return to the written evidence that we have received and use it to decide whether we take oral evidence?
We can make decisions when the bill is produced. We are currently identifying people who we know we want to interview. I am sure that once we see the next draft of the bill other issues will arise that we must address.
East Renfrewshire Council has already been inspected and would be happy to give evidence. It has learned some interesting lessons and introduced a refined way of using the statistics that are thrown up by performance indicators and inspections. It would be useful for the committee to hear about that.
East Renfrewshire Council and West Lothian Council will have interesting information for us as they are the pilot councils, so we should meet both.
I am not sure about the procedure and timing of discussing the bill. Could Steiner schools come and talk to us? I know that St Mary's is in the bill, but people feel that pluralism is not being addressed.
We could meet representatives of Steiner schools if committee members feel it is important.
At which stage would we do so?
I am reluctant to produce a long list at this stage, but I am happy to take on board your point.
I agree with Ian. We are trying to address the deficiencies of the bill. Steiner schools are not covered, and as they have cross-party support, the committee may be able to play a useful role.
If there is to be consultation before the bill becomes law, Steiner schools ought to have the chance to state their case.
We are not making suggestions today about whom we should see: we will wait until we see the bill and then produce a list of who we wish to provide oral evidence.
I hope that today we can agree to meet representatives from St Mary's, East Renfrewshire Council, West Lothian Council, the Gaelic education sector and Steiner schools, so that we can give them meeting dates.
May I throw in one other organisation?
If you must.
I had thought that we were putting off this decision, but I am keen that the Scottish Library Information Council talks to us about its proposal, in conjunction with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, to have a statutory school library service.
The committee would be happy with that. We will leave that discussion for now, but we are not ruling out anyone at this stage. Once we have the next draft of the bill we will reconsider our position. The decision that we have reached so far on the organisations that we will talk to allows appointments to be made.