Chamber and committees

That is all my questions, convener.

Would that be because you are in the same region?

That is what I was thinking about. There are things that we are aware of in this bubble, but the rest of the world is not on the same page.

My two amendments in the group serve to make clear what an inspection plan should consider. Right now, it could be argued that it is as simple as whatever is in the “How Good is Our School?” document. However, that is now 10 years out of date, and we are looking for something that will bring a bit more rigour in the standards against which establishments will be evaluated. That is why my amendment 175 seeks to add the words

“including indicators of quality and improvement”.

That wording aims to bottom out the standards against which our establishments will be evaluated. We want there to be indicators of quality and improvement within an inspection framework against which an establishment’s performance will be evaluated and then reported on.

In amendment 177, I have further expanded that with the addition of what I would like to make clear is what I define as a rigorous and evidence-based inspection. Members will note that it states what the type of inspection activities could include, so there could be other things, but we want there to be interviews, observation, data analysis and questionnaires with stakeholders. Importantly, we also want evidence to be provided that can be analysed, assessed and then triangulated to reach conclusions to form a report on the quality of the provision as determined by that inspection framework.

More importantly, using that sort of analysis will mean that we can also measure improvement from that. That is what my two amendments are here to do—to allow us to have a clear starting point and to measure progress and improvement in the establishments.

I thank Stephen Kerr for explaining the purpose of amendment 170. I want to reflect a bit on what the committee spoke about earlier in relation to the frequency of inspections, the culture of inspections and how they are perceived by the teaching establishment. We are trying to shift the dial and allow people to have a much more positive view of inspections, so that they see the opportunity that inspections can present to everyone and so that there is, as the amendment states,

“the desirability of carrying out inspections that ... are detailed”

and

“consider all areas of work”.

The amendment is about considering how an inspection affects the quality of learning, teaching, assessment, leadership, support for learning and ethos of a school. Ultimately, that will impact on every learner in a school. The amendment aims to shift the dial so that inspections are viewed and presented in a much more positive manner.

I understand where you are coming from, cabinet secretary, but I point out that the key word in the amendment is “desirability”. We want inspections that are ultimately of use to the establishment and, indeed, the teachers, so that they can learn from them and improve the school or the educational establishment in question. Will you comment on that?

In reference to where we are tonight, does the Education, Children and Young People Committee have the capacity to deal with nearly 400 amendments to an education bill to the point that we are having to sit for a number of evening sessions? We need to look long and hard at the Scottish Parliament’s capacity and the amount of legislation and other work that committees are asked to deal with.

Audit Scotland is held up as being a really good and heavily critical organisation that is well respected for how it reports to the Parliament in its various inquiries. When it came to my intentions, my head was in that space: I was looking for the chief inspector of schools to have kudos, influence and the trust of the public, which have been absent in relation to a number of things in education over the past few years.

That is where we are. However, given the feeling and sentiment, I will not press amendment 140.

Amendment 140, by agreement, withdrawn.

Amendments 75 and 141 not moved.

Thank you, convener. It is nice to be back at the committee this evening. There are some familiar faces in the room and a couple of new faces online. You will all be delighted to learn that, although there are 44 amendments in my name in the group, it will not be an arduous task to go through them, because they are all linked and serve the same purpose of strengthening the independence of the chief inspector.

As members will remember, I was on the committee when we took our stage 1 evidence, and the one thing that I remember hearing loud and clear is that, as it stood, the Education (Scotland) Bill did not go far enough in securing the independence of the chief inspector’s role.

As the bill stands, it states in schedule 2 that

“the Chief Inspector is not subject to the direction or control of any member of the Scottish Government”

other than where that is explicitly set out in legislation. Ultimately, ministers will retain the ability to direct the chief inspector to secure inspections of specific types of educational establishments. Those broadly reflect the current powers of ministers that are contained in the Education (Scotland) Act 1980.

As I said, we heard repeatedly that the new His Majesty’s chief inspector of education needs to be—and, almost more importantly, needs to be seen to be—independent. Organisations including the Association of Heads and Deputes in Scotland, the Educational Institute of Scotland and children’s services at East Renfrewshire Council all argued that

“consistent reference throughout the Bill to the Chief Inspector carrying out inspections at the request of ministers … suggests the Chief Inspector is not independent but is an officer who acts on behalf of the Government.”

The fact that we have the moratorium does not mean that regulation should cease. Education is critical to so many people’s futures, and if we think that a new function is needed, it should not be dismissed offhand on the back of such a report.

Can I finish my sentence?