Chamber and committees

Yes—I do not deny that. I am saying that we unanimously agreed the stage 1 report line by line, but it now sounds as though the Labour Party wants to get rid of the SQA. If Labour members abstain, logic suggests that they disagree with having a new qualifications body. I am little bit confused about that.

How can we get the children who are not engaged to engage with us? I know that that is a very difficult question—and I am asking it through the chair, Presiding Officer.

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting NHS Grampian to increase bed capacity, particularly in light of increased demand during the winter period. (S6O-04131)

I am pleased to take part in the debate, particularly in my relatively new role as deputy convener of the Education, Children and Young People Committee. Although I have not been a member of the committee since the start of the evidence-taking stage of the bill, I would nonetheless like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have taken the time to contribute and who have given evidence to the committee over the past months.

I also thank the committee clerks for bringing it all together and for the support that they have shown me since I came into post. I also thank committee members, who have worked together to agree the general principles of the bill and to reach what I thought was unanimous agreement on the stage 1 report. It was disappointing to hear what Pam Duncan-Glancy said today, because we, as a committee, went through and agreed 400-odd paragraphs line by line.

Of course, it would be remiss of me if I did not pay tribute to Sue Webber and Evelyn Tweed, the former convener and deputy convener of the committee. They started the work and built the foundations for the stage 1 report. I thank them both.

The Education (Scotland) Bill is part of the Scottish Government’s programme for government, part of our vision to improve the lives of young folk and children, and part of achieving the First Minister’s ultimate goal of eradicating child poverty in Scotland. Education is very important to the lives of our children and young people and the opportunities that lie ahead for them. What bairns learn at a young age can allow them to unlock their full potential and open the door to all sorts of opportunities. In short, if we give our bairns the best possible start, it can benefit them throughout their lives.

That principle underpins many of the Scottish Government’s policies, starting at birth. When a child is born, every family in Scotland receives a baby box and many are supported by best start grants. Throughout their childhood, support is available through the game-changing Scottish child payment, and free education has been extended from nursery right through university. Soon, if the budget passes, the Scottish Government will right a wrong by making every child in Scotland equal. Children who happen to have two or more siblings will no longer be disadvantaged by the UK Government’s two-child cap. That will right the wrong of the current Labour UK Government, which has continued that horrendous cap.

The bill proposes many positive steps, such as setting out the functions of qualifications Scotland, a new organisation that will have the authority to craft qualifications, whether for itself or others to award, and to devise programmes of learning to match those qualifications. People need to have confidence in our national qualifications and in the body that awards them. That confidence must come from all corners. It must come from our children and young people, who are most affected; from their parents and carers, who will undoubtedly want the best for them; from the teachers, whom we trust with our young people’s education and care throughout the school day; and from employers, who will look at those qualifications when they offer jobs in years to come.

That confidence simply does not exist with the SQA as things stand. I hope that, moving forward, we can work to ensure that qualifications Scotland is able to build the level of trust that everyone expects of our national qualifications organisations. With dedicated committees for students and teachers to hold qualifications Scotland accountable, charters to set out what learners and teachers should expect from the body and an enhanced governance model that separates its awarding and accreditation functions to ensure that decisions on those matters are taken independently of one another, qualifications Scotland will ensure that it operates with integrity, transparency and fairness.

The bill will also create the office of His Majesty’s chief inspector of education in Scotland. That person will lead and oversee a new inspectorate to drive forward the high standards that we rightly expect in our schools. There is a clear need for the chief inspector to operate independently, including independently of ministers, when they set out—

—their inspection methodologies and inspection judgments. Scrutiny is proposed to come through regular—

I will conclude there—thank you.

I recognise that the nursing and midwifery task force is working to consider the attraction and retention of students in the sector. Will the cabinet secretary advise when the task force’s recommendations will be published and what it is expected to advise?

Can the Deputy First Minister give any further detail in relation to the improvements that are being implemented through the FOI improvement plan and any continued assessment that is taking place?

Children in Scotland are undoubtedly being let down. How many children in Scotland have been dragged into or kept in poverty by disgraceful policies such as Labour’s two-child limit? Will the First Minister tell the chamber how the policies of his Scottish National Party Government and the budget are delivering for Scotland’s education system and for our bairns and young folk?