Chamber and committees

Would Graeme like to comment on that?

Regarding the forthcoming roll-out of adult disability benefit in Glasgow, I am already hearing from my constituents, who are welcoming the “no requirement to reapply” feature. Does the minister agree that, once the benefit has been set up, that feature will provide reassurance and dignity to people in receipt of the benefit?

Good morning, everyone. It has been a fascinating discussion so far. Cabinet secretary, you acknowledge that we have taken extensive evidence on this subject over the past few months. Parents, young people and teachers have said that, prior to Covid, progress was being made in closing the attainment gap—albeit modest progress; nevertheless, we were moving in the right direction. It is clear that Covid has had an impact on that. Briefly—I know that we do not have a huge amount of time—what are the highlights of the progress that you think has been made in closing the poverty-related attainment gap? Has the Scottish Government considered widening the definitions of measuring that attainment?

What you have said so far has been interesting. I think that we have all more or less accepted that the Scottish Government is in a difficult position. You want to keep the use of the orders to an absolute minimum and keep people as close to home as possible. Therefore, what work have you done with the UK Government? The situation is driven by underprovision in England, so have you lobbied the UK Government and, if so, how did you get on with that?

You are here in front of this committee. Would the Education Committee at Westminster be a route to get to ministers, who obviously are the ones who will make the decision?

It is a complex area. I know, from teaching for many years, that it is not just about education. However, when you look at it, the poverty bit sometimes gets missed. Inevitably, if people do not have enough money, a child is not ready to learn, because they are hungry. That makes it even more challenging for teachers as well, so the two things go together. How does the SAC fit into the Scottish Government’s overall approach to tackling child poverty?

Andrea Bradley of the EIS also said to the committee on 20 April that

“There is an opportunity now in the fact that the framework has been adjusted to include all 32 local authorities”,

and that

“With the new framing, there is an opportunity for us to do more and to do things differently. It is important that we seize that opportunity to the best of our ability.”—[Official Report, Education, Children and Young People Committee, 20 April 2022; c 3.]

Does Michael Marra acknowledge that she also said that on behalf of the EIS?

Will the member take an intervention?

I am pleased to support the Government’s amendment, and I welcome the range of anti-poverty measures that it highlights.

As the head of education services at Glasgow City Council, Gerry Lyons, told the Education, Children and Young People Committee on 4 May, the Scottish Government’s focus on poverty did not start with the attainment challenge, but it allows even greater focus to be put on that policy priority.

Over this parliamentary session, the challenge will be supported by £1 billion of investment, which is an increase of £250 million from the previous parliamentary session. The refresh that was announced by the cabinet secretary included that increase in investment. It also included a change in the challenge’s mission to acknowledge that poverty cannot and should not be tackled only during school hours. Increases in the school uniform grant, the expansion of free school meals and the Scottish child payment are all policies that link into the work of the attainment challenge.

The challenge refresh also includes a change to the distribution of funding. As Emma Congreve of the Fraser of Allander Institute told the committee,

“It is incredibly difficult for a diverse country with different needs in different parts of the country to agree on what the best approach is.”—[Official Report, Education, Children and Young People Committee, 9 February 2022; c 10.]

The decision to use a funding model based on the data on children in low-income families will deliver challenge funding to every local authority in Scotland, including the nine original challenge authorities. That move was welcomed by COSLA and council leaders across the country. The cabinet secretary has also delivered a tapered reduction in the year-on-year funding to the nine authorities that already receive it, to enable them to manage their resources.

As Ruth Binks, director of education in Inverclyde Council told the committee, the local authorities that are in receipt of challenge funding knew that the funding was not guaranteed year on year and were regularly challenged on their exit strategy. She said,

“There is poverty throughout Scotland ... so revision to the original funding model was merited”,

and she went on to say,

“I think that it was a fair thing to do.”—[Official Report, Education, Children and Young People Committee, 4 May 2022; c 7, 8.]

The committee heard from headteachers from the West Partnership that any cut requires to be looked at, of course, but they accepted the situation in order for funding to be fairly distributed across all local authorities.

I welcome the opportunity that Labour has given the Parliament to reflect on the many ways in which the Scottish Government is delivering funding to reduce the attainment gap the length and breadth of Scotland. I thank colleagues in my party for mentioning some of them; I will not go over them again.

The Government is clearly serious about reducing the attainment gap. I am shocked that Labour endlessly chooses to align itself with the Tories in attacking the Government when it is taking sustained, meaningful action on a hugely important issue. [Interruption.] I am about to finish.

The Education, Children and Young People Committee has taken extensive evidence from teachers and school leaders, and I pay tribute to all those people, who have worked incredibly hard. Indeed, quite a few of them put on the record the support that the Scottish Government has provided to enable them to do their jobs.

When Opposition members try to do down education, they do our children and educators a disservice—