School Education (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill
The next item of business is a debate on motion S1M-2507, in the name of Cathy Jamieson, which seeks agreement that the School Education (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill be passed. I call Nicol Stephen to speak to and move the motion.
I thank the members of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee for the hard and, as members will have gathered, very detailed work that they have done on this short bill. I would also like to thank those who contributed to the committee's effective scrutiny of the bill, above all the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and those authorities that raised the important issue that we have just debated, but also the teacher organisations, which made various points relating to section 2.
Mike Russell referred to section 2. If there had been an opportunity to address in the bill the wider issues that he raised, we would have considered doing that. We are still considering the position of assistant principal teacher. We will work closely with COSLA and the teacher organisations to ensure that the system is as straightforward and as smooth running as possible.
I thank officials of the education department and the Scottish Executive legal and drafting teams, whose commitment to the redrafting of section 1 has been extremely high. Their route to a successful conclusion of the bill has at times been difficult, but without them we would not have achieved the solution that we have reached today.
This is an interesting bill, because all members agreed on the policy. At issue was how to deliver that policy successfully and how to ensure that we avoided making the mistake that, collectively, all of us made in the Standards in Scotland's Schools etc Act 2000. I want to put on record the fact that at stage 2 and, indeed, throughout the progress of the bill, no one representing the Executive was trying to defend the status quo and the original wording of the bill. I was certainly not doing that. However, we had concerns about Mike Russell's amendment, which it would be fair to describe as a place holder to ensure that the Executive came back with substantial changes to the bill. We have done that. Because of the work that was done at stage 1 and, in particular, at stage 2, the bill is leaving stage 3 in much better shape.
I have considerable speaking notes to assist me through the rest of the bill, but in a spirit of good will and consensus I will stop there.
I move,
That the Parliament agrees that the School Education (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill be passed.
In a continuation of that spirit, I remind members to limit their speeches to three minutes. I will write to Tommy Sheridan about the issues that he raised with me earlier this morning.
I have only one point to make. The journalists who this morning lambasted members of this Parliament for their lack of work and ability may want to focus on this bill as an example in microcosm of how the Parliament works. As a former member of the consultative steering group, you, Presiding Officer, will also have enjoyed observing the progress of the bill.
The bill deals with a comparatively minor matter and should not have been contentious. It seeks to correct one error and to get something else to work. It managed to bring disparate political groups together on a committee, out of concern for a problem that had been brought to them by an outside organisation during scrutiny of legislation. Through debate and through the use of strong-arm tactics with the minister, the bill has been improved and will, I believe, be agreed to unanimously by the chamber.
What will the bill do? It will help people considerably. Many parents have had difficulties with placing requests. The bill will resolve some real constituency cases with which many of us have had to grapple. It will also help to implement the McCrone agreement, which we hope will improve conditions in schools.
This is an important bill. There were difficulties relating to it and it led to a genuine debate involving the Education, Culture and Sport Committee, all the parties represented on the committee, the minister, the Executive, Scottish local authorities, COSLA and others. At the end of that debate, we have reached a satisfactory conclusion. That is a credit to the Parliament. This is not a major matter, but it is an important one. Perhaps we should talk more about that than about most other things.
I record Conservative members' support for the bill, which we welcome.
The bill solves a number of problems caused by the Standards in Scotland's Schools etc Act 2000. It ensures that the placing requests that so many parents want to make can be made for the categories of children to which the minister referred. Never before have I seen so much work done on a bill at such a late stage. A number of scenarios have been presented and flow charts have been produced to guide us through the complications of this very complicated area.
I will not dwell on the complications. The bill ensures that the principles of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 remain in force and that parents retain the right to make placing requests. The 1980 bill was quite controversial when Alex Fletcher presented it to the House of Commons, but parents' right to make placing requests is now accepted by all parties.
I thank COSLA for its amendment, which became Mike Russell's amendment. Without that, we would not have been able to improve the bill. I look forward to receiving support from parents and parents organisations for the work of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee and the minister in securing the passage of the bill.
From the Labour benches, I record my support for the bill. I thank COSLA for the work that it has done to try to bring this matter to a conclusion. I also thank the clerks to the Education, Culture and Sport Committee and officials of the education department. This was a particularly complex and detailed matter that at one point could have gone either way. We have moved the issue forward and improved the situation. When people in Scotland make placing requests, they will welcome the fact that legislation has made that easier for them. Local authorities will not be subject to the legal challenges that they were worried about at the beginning of this process.
This has been a positive and helpful experience for us all. I hope that the Parliament will see the bill through today and that it will be enacted by the new year.
I echo the minister's thanks to everyone involved in the scrutiny of the bill, both inside and outside the Parliament, including COSLA and the clerks to the Education, Culture and Sport Committee.
This is a positive bill and tidies up placing requests legislation. As Brian Monteith said, placing requests have become part of the way in which the Scottish education system works. To begin with, they were controversial. I look forward to a time when there are fewer placing requests and when all parents want to send their children to the school that is closest to them because of its high standards. In the meantime, the freedom that placing requests offer is important and we must get the relevant legislation right. The bill takes us forward in that regard. Like the minister, I regret the tortured language that we have ended up with, but that is bound up with the way in which things work.
Implementation of the McCrone agreement is important to the whole teaching profession. We do not want unnecessary bureaucracy to prevent smooth progress on that front. The issue of assistant principals must be examined and aspects of the implementation of the McCrone agreement will require much negotiation. However, we do not want bureaucracy to get in the way of that. As Mike Russell said, the system should not be gummed up by unnecessary advertisements.
The Scottish Parliament has done a good job with the bill. I am grateful to the minister for taking a responsible and good-humoured approach to the committee's niggling about the bill—it is important that that relationship is maintained. I appreciated his crystal-clear account of the bill as it now stands.
The Liberal Democrats support the bill and I hope that it will go forward happily.
Minister, do you have any final comments or sentiments?
I thank members for their kind words. I waive my right to say anything further.
We have made extremely good speed and have now concluded this morning's business. I remind members that there will be an emergency statement on NEC Semiconductors (UK) Limited at 2 pm, followed by an emergency question on the Highlands and Islands and Caledonian MacBrayne at 2.25 pm.
Meeting suspended until 14:00.
On resuming—
Before we move to this afternoon's business, I wish to notify members that it is anticipated that this afternoon's business might be concluded earlier than scheduled. As a result, it is likely—subject to the agreement of the Parliament—that decision time and the members' business debate that follows it may be taken before 5 pm.
Members will note from the revised business bulletin that was published at lunchtime that it has been agreed that there will be an emergency ministerial statement on NEC Semiconductors, followed by an emergency question.