Chamber and committees

As I understand it, a voter can opt to have their name removed from the register for privacy reasons or other reasons. If the number of people who do that increased, that would create incomplete registers for campaigning purposes, would it not, or have I misunderstood?

The cross-party group on Ireland has been proposed in recognition of a number of things, including, most significantly, the impact of the Irish diaspora on Scotland. Although the impact tends to be concentrated around the central belt, it is certainly not exclusive to that area. As a result, the influence of Irish culture on Scotland has been hugely significant, and it seems fitting for the Scottish Parliament to have a cross-party group on Ireland. If most MSPs go back far enough, they could probably find some Irish connection or other.

The cross-party group would seek to build on and recognise our close relationship with Ireland. The shortest crossing point between Scotland and Ireland is about 12 miles. We would seek to build on our friendship and relationship with Ireland and our shared links in history and culture. We would look at things such as our trading relationship with Ireland and how it could be developed, and we would recognise and seek to build on the importance of tourism, investment, education and, indeed, literature, because there is a Celtic cultural connection. The cross-party group wants to build on, develop and recognise those things across the Parliament.

Brigid Whoriskey, the director of Envision Business Solutions, has offered to provide secretariat services to the CPG. She has extensive contacts with the Irish community across Scotland and very close contacts with the Consulate General of Ireland. We will also have the support of a parliamentary staffer as and when required, if that is permissible.

I do not think so. I do not know whether I am right in thinking that there is a cross-party group on Europe—I fear that I am not able to say definitively whether there is—but there might be opportunities and scope for us to invite members of that group if we were having a discussion about Ireland, Scotland and the wider European agenda. That could be an opportunity for even further cross-party working.

That is my fault. There was a box on the sheet—I cannot see it just now—for a contact, and I intended to write the parliamentary staffer’s name in the box, but I omitted to do it. I meant to follow up to insert their name, but I have not. It is my fault, but it is covered.

In your previous answer, cabinet secretary, you talked about the Promise and about looking after children as being everything, everywhere. Something that has come up in previous evidence sessions—and, indeed, has come up today—is that the landscape around the Promise is quite cluttered. Perhaps that is inevitable, given the number of agencies that have to be involved at various stages in a child’s life, depending on what they need. What has come up a lot, though, is that a lot of organisations are involved in the Promise, and they all collect their own data. However, they do not necessarily share that data, perhaps for perfectly legitimate reasons.

I wonder whether you and the minister will consider this, but a question that I have been asking, and wondering about, is whether we could collate that data. Bearing in mind the data protection issues, and the fact that only a very limited number of people would have access to it, I wonder whether the data around a child—what they need, what they have experienced and what their challenges are—could be collated and then follow them until an appropriate time. One issue that was highlighted was that, if a child moves between local authorities or from one part of Scotland to another, their data does not necessarily follow, and they have to explain themselves over and over again to access the services that they need. Has any work been done, or consideration been given, to collating the critical data around these children to ensure that, as they advance, they get the support that they need, regardless of where they go?

Thank you.

Cabinet secretary, I was interested in what you said about the reduction in class contact time allowing more time for specialised lessons in art, music or whatever. Some of the evidence we have heard on this issue has highlighted shortages—shortages that were around when I was going to school, which was not yesterday—in certain subjects, particularly physics and other science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects.

There are worries that the unintended consequence of reducing class contact time might be a shrinking curriculum, because there are simply not enough specialised teachers. I know that the Government can do—and has been doing—things to fill those gaps such as encouraging physics and maths graduates, for example, to come into teaching. We also know that golden handshakes have been offered, although they do not seem to be making the kinds of inroads into the problem that we would like. How do you square that with providing more specialism?

09:15

Having listened to Mr Dunlop, I am prompted to return briefly to the question of STEM. I know that there are other topics to discuss, but let us stay with that issue for a moment.

For decades—long before devolution—there has been a shortage of teachers in STEM subjects. My assessment is that there are two barriers to recruitment. One is competition from industry. I will not say that it is solely about pay, because Scottish teachers are the best paid in Europe, and possibly the world, but education is nevertheless has to compete with industries that can offer much more lucrative salaries and career structures.

09:30

The other is the constant media narrative about education: how awful everything is and how terrible children are, and how difficult teaching is. That has certainly been more vociferous in recent years. Of course teaching is a difficult job—it always has been—but the use of education as a political football is certainly a barrier to recruitment, especially when the sector is competing with industry.

I do not know whether you want to comment on that; I just wanted to say it out loud and put it on the record. I feel able to do so—I worked in education for 25 years, so I am not speaking as an outsider.

Does the Scottish Government have any plans for how it will tackle the persistent shortage of STEM subject teachers, which will be critical to the success of the reduction in class contact time?