Chamber and committees

I appreciate that the college sector has expressed disappointment about the settlement that it has been given. It has been an exceptionally challenging process, and I laid some of that out in the first part of my introductory statement.

The challenge, as we moved through the budget process, has been to deliver a fair settlement that allows the Government as a whole to deliver on our multiple priorities. We have supported the college sector, and its budget has been maintained for the coming financial year. I appreciate that that is a difficult settlement for colleges, but, as I said to Mr Dornan, the SFC will now work closely with the sector on the institutional settlements that will flow from that, to see how we can best deliver for the sector in what I readily admit is a difficult and challenging year.

It is not fair to say that the funding that we are putting into teacher recruitment—which is the biggest increase in funding for teacher recruitment since 2007—is a rehash of what we were doing already. It is a substantial change in investment compared to last year.

Teacher recruitment is absolutely integral to partners moving forward with the reduction in class contact time, which is exactly why the Government has invested so heavily in that. We are aware that there are practical challenges in bringing that in, of which timetabling is one, and that schools continue to be under pressure due to dealing with Covid. We know that there is a lot of pressure on the system, but one of the ways in which we can assist—if we can—is through a reduction in class contact time for teachers. Going back to an earlier point that we discussed, that is important for staff welfare.

You have raised an important point. As funding leaves national Government and moves to local government, it is—absolutely—for local government to determine how that money is spent if it is outside ring-fenced budgets.

It is very important that we all have a close regard to the variation in outcomes in education, which should be a shared concern for us all. The variation of how things are done in education is absolutely to be encouraged, because we should not have a one-size-fits-all policy set from Edinburgh. However, variation in the outcomes for children is something that we are determined to look at. I would point to some of the key aspects in the Scottish attainment challenge funding, which I raised with the convener earlier, that we are determined to move forward with and that look specifically at variation.

In other areas, we will, of course, set outcome frameworks for what we expect from those programmes. There are outcome frameworks for the 1,140 hours policy, so that there is an understanding of what is delivered for the funding that goes in. It is important that not just the Scottish Government but local authorities know what the outcomes of ring-fenced funding are and that they have an awareness of what happens with the funding that leaves national Government and goes to local government.

We made a commitment that that funding can allow local authorities to deliver on permanent contracts. We know, to an approximate level, how many teachers that money will be able to recruit. For example, the £145.5 million that is in the budget is enough to employ 2,500 teachers and 500 support staff. We will be looking at the changing numbers of staff, given how much we know that money will be able to pay for.

Some local authorities may choose to spend more on permanent support staff rather than on permanent teachers. That is a local choice that they will be able to take, depending on what they think is right for their area. There may be some change to that, given local circumstances, but our analysis is based on how much money is going in and how much that funding should be able to provide for teachers and support staff. We will measure on that basis.

The census is annual. It comes out in December, so we have not had it long. In the interim period, we have to rely on our on-going discussions with local authorities. As I said, the official teacher census is published every December. We will monitor the situation very closely with local authorities in the interim, but that will not involve official statistics until that point.

The issue of supply staff is key and it ties into the point that you have made. Although there are teachers on temporary contracts who would wish to be in permanent employment—that is what the Government wants to see, and that is why I have made the funding available—there are some people who wish to be on a temporary contract and who want to work in that way. We will never change that entirely, because part of the workforce wants to be flexible. What is key is that we do everything that we can to encourage local authorities to have permanent contracts, where at all possible. The number of supply staff is exceptionally important to allow for a flexible workforce, particularly at this time.

I should make the committee aware that, earlier in the pandemic, we put a call out via the General Teaching Council for Scotland for retired teachers to come back into the profession for some time, should they want to. The uptake of that was exceptionally low—a very small number came forward from that call. I understand that the uptake was similarly low in other countries that have tried that method of approach. However, we are looking to do that again to see whether any difference can be made. We expect the numbers to be low again, as in other countries, but we think that that is something that should be approached.

That is an important point, and I would be interested to hear more about that from the committee. I can give a couple of examples of how we are moving forward with that.

The national improvement framework is one example. We are determined to ensure that spending on the education and skills portfolio has a direct impact on the national improvement framework and the work from that. That is all about improving outcomes for children and young people. The latest version of the framework was published in December. That is one example of the work that we do.

I also point to the work on the Scottish attainment challenge. There will be £1 billion of expenditure during this session of Parliament. It is vital that we know that the money is being spent in the most effective fashion. That is why my announcement to Parliament included the work that we will do with local authorities on stretch aims so that we will know what the money is being spent on and what schools and local authorities think that it will deliver. We will work closely with local authorities. Once we have that information, Education Scotland can ensure support for local authorities to deliver those outcomes, and we will be able to see what is being done to achieve them.

Those are two examples. The committee raises a fair point, and I am keen to see where we can do further work.

The typical cost for a HEPA filter is not in the pack that I have with me. We looked at it when we were analysing the £5 million fund, so I can certainly get it to the committee very easily, but I do not have it with me today.

I am not yet aware of exactly when Ken Muir will report back. He is finalising that work just now, and the date is within his gift. We certainly expect to receive the report by the end of the year and will seek to publish it in due course after that. Obviously, at that point, the committee would be made aware of that.

I am always concerned about teachers’ wellbeing. During a pandemic, there is a particular responsibility on the Government to take that seriously.