Chamber and committees

In Scotland, people living with chronic pain have been expressing concern that the Scottish national residential pain management programme, which is based in Glasgow and provides intense support to people from all over Scotland who live with chronic pain, will no longer be directly funded by the Scottish Government. The Scottish Parliament voted to create that national service and, since 2015, it has been free for all boards to refer patients to the programme, to help those who are living with chronic pain to self-manage. Will the First Minister investigate why that decision has been taken and why boards will now be forced to pay to refer patients to the service? Will it be a national service for people who live with chronic pain, wherever they live in Scotland?

I start on a positive note by thanking the Labour Party for sponsoring a debate on education. It is important that we have those; in January, the Scottish Conservatives sponsored a similar debate about our school environments. I would return to the subject every week, because parents, pupils and teachers are telling us that the problems that are still happening in our schools must be addressed. I do not see that as a negative thing—I see it as what people are looking for the Parliament to do something about.

In March, we secured a debate about ending violence in our schools. Maybe when the cabinet secretary is giving her closing speech, she can touch on some of this. We have seen a movement from the Scottish Government in the past year to recognise that we have a problem in our classrooms and that violence in our classrooms is something that we cannot just hope is not happening.

The number of teachers has decreased by almost 1,700 over the time that this Government has been in power. I think that that is because of the school environment. The number of post-probation teachers who find full-time employment has decreased and there has been a huge increase in the number of days that have been lost because of teachers in our school workplaces having poor mental health. More than 30 per cent of pupils are missing more than 10 per cent of their school learning because of that. Scotland’s classrooms are now the most violent in the UK: between March 2014 and 2024, there were 490 reports of serious injuries to school staff in Scotland caused by violence. Adjusted for population, that rate is higher than the rate in England and Wales.

So, we have a problem, and we need to ensure that, rather than burying our heads in the sand, we look for solutions. I hope that the cabinet secretary will listen to those of us who have raised the issue.

In the debates that we led on the subject, we asked for a clear national policy on consequences. The cabinet secretary said that such a policy would be provided in the guidance. We must have a situation in which pupils are required to take responsibility for their actions; in which any violence in our schools is not tolerated; and in which the option of exclusion is available for teachers to take as a last resort, if they need to, with the support of this Parliament and the cabinet secretary. Ministers have acknowledged that the rise in violence and abuse in our schools must be addressed.

On Friday, along with the cabinet secretary, I attended the School Leaders Scotland conference. I was struck by the conversations that I had with teachers about the fact that technology and bullying are at the heart of their concerns. Although the First Minister has told us that work is being done on the issue, school leaders want the Government to provide leadership on what they should be doing. A ban on social media—

I did. That is why I wanted to touch on the issue, on which our school leaders are asking for support. We must ensure that the Parliament and the Government hear that message, because if they do not, the issue will be the subject of the next crisis that we debate. I was shocked by some of the conversations that I had about the bullying that young people are experiencing. I hope that the Government will realise that there is a need for more debate on the issue.

I am running out of time, so I will conclude. It is clear that the fact that violence is out of control in many of our classrooms needs to be addressed. The Scottish Government must ensure that teachers have 100 per cent support in tackling the issue. Scottish Conservatives would work to bring back common sense in dealing effectively with disruptive pupils by empowering our teachers and rolling out the mobile phone ban that is making such a positive difference in some of our classrooms.

I move amendment S6M-19754.1, to insert at end:

“; notes with deep concern the decline in standards and increasing pupil violence, which are intensifying pressures on teachers and support staff; believes that these trends reflect years of underinvestment and a failure to provide the support and resources needed to maintain safe and effective learning environments, and calls on the Scottish Government to deliver urgent action to raise attainment, improve discipline in classrooms and support teachers to deliver the high-quality education that every young person in Scotland deserves.”

On Monday, Russell Findlay and I visited Edinburgh College to tour its construction facility—the Minister for Higher and Further Education will know it well, as it is in his constituency. We met lots of young people, not just from Edinburgh but from East Lothian. In speaking to them, we could see the opportunity that they have finally been able to realise. I hope that, if they get the skills that they are there to learn, they will get the security that is provided by good jobs and will be able to get on with their lives. It was interesting to have conversations with young people who had a focus on exactly why they were there and who wanted to be there.

The debate has addressed a number of aspects that relate to that. In his opening speech, Daniel Johnson touched on the jobs of the future and on planning for them. As Murdo Fraser said, the skills system is currently not meeting our economy’s needs. We need to be mindful of where we should be working collectively to make a change to achieve that. I do not think that the Government’s Tertiary Education and Training (Funding and Governance) (Scotland) Bill will do that, which is why the Scottish Conservatives will work to amend it. We need transparency on the apprenticeship levy and annual reporting, so that we can see where that money is going.

Our college sector is crying out for help. The Scottish Government and all parties need to hear that. Eleven institutions are not only reporting financial difficulty but clearly at a point of failure, and we need to collectively act on that. As ministers have said, the university sector is too big to fail, but I think that the college sector is too important to our economy to fail. Alex Rowley made important points about why that is.

Recent reports from the Scottish Funding Council and Audit Scotland have highlighted the dire financial situation that our college sector is now operating in. It is the key to the ability to get on in life for many young people—especially those who are furthest removed from our education sector and the workplace. Claire Baker mentioned disabled people in that regard. Ministers have clearly not been able to ensure that the opportunities that colleges offer are available for everyone in our society.

The minister mentioned the energy transition skills hub in Aberdeen’s North East Scotland College. It is a great example of what we should be doing to plan for and invest in the jobs of the future. The problem is that the college will have no extra credits for that facility and will therefore have to look to reduce the number of courses that are taken by its student body—including courses in hairdressing, which was mentioned earlier—in order to provide that opportunity. Ministers need to understand and review the delivery of those credits in order to meet the needs of our economy and to ensure that those institutions have opportunities to deliver.

That is why Scottish Conservatives have made our proposals. I am a huge fan of school-college partnerships. We must look at where we can get our young people into training opportunities earlier—whether that is at age 14 or 15. When they have a spark, we must consider how to give them opportunities for their future.

We should have an apprenticeship plan and demand-led reform to meet the needs of businesses, to address the skills gap across many important sectors—almost every single sector in Edinburgh—and to support the jobs growth that we need in the east of Scotland.

It is time for a vision for our college and skills sectors, and I hope that the next Parliament and the next Government will realise the potential of our college and apprenticeship sectors. Those sectors want to deliver, and we need to give them the opportunities now to do that. I do not think that the Government’s Tertiary Education and Training (Funding and Governance) (Scotland) Bill will provide those opportunities, so I hope that all parties will send out a message from the Parliament that we need something bigger and better from the Government. We need to put our apprenticeships at the heart of our education system.

What consideration has the minister given to equity within the current loan-based system? According to the 2024 London Economics report entitled “Examination of higher education fees and funding in Scotland”, under that system, graduates who learn earn less over their lifetime pay more back in interest than graduates who earn a lot more money—a situation which predominantly benefits men, to the detriment of less well-paid female graduates.

Data from His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs shows that, between 2020 and 2024, £875 million was raised by Scottish employers from the United Kingdom-wide apprenticeship levy, but research has found that, during the same period, Scottish National Party ministers spent just £704 million on apprenticeships. What investigation is the new minister implementing to find out what has happened to the £170 million that has not gone to apprenticeships, even though that is what the levy is meant to deliver? Will he look at how the greater transparency that is needed can be provided through the bills that are going through Parliament?

Do you see that proactively taking place? We know that many schools have not been inspected for a long time. In relation to the bill, if incidents are reported on—you have suggested that that reporting would be council-wide, not school-specific—that involves a piece of work proactively taking place. I am not sure that leaving it to be part of a wider school inspection would provide the live support to address incidents and potential training needs.

I have raised this next point several times when we have taken evidence. The committee has been interested to hear about the Care Inspectorate and the reduction that there has been in the use of restraint. That might be around the conversation that your bill has taken forward. The Care Inspectorate can provide support and challenge to care settings shortly after a report of restraint is made. When you were drafting the bill, did you consider a similar role for His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education in providing support? Do you see it having that proactive role?

Thanks for that. You see the guidance aspect as the main route, then.

Good morning. Congratulations on the bill, Mr Johnson. As Edinburgh MSPs, we will have dealt with the same constituents highlighting their concerns. It is very important that the bill makes progress, so I congratulate you on that.

I have two specific questions, which return to an earlier point on informing parents and carers. In regard to the bill’s approach to schools providing information, what should the timescales be, particularly if the parents or carers have welfare concerns? What consideration have you given to that?