Chamber and committees

Thank you. Do members have any suggestions for actions?

Thank you for that. Is the committee agreed with all those recommendations?

Members indicated agreement.

Thank you. I thank the members of David Hill’s family for attending.

Thank you for your comments, Mr Ewing. Do members agree with that?

There are not many members round this table whose mailbag will not be continually filled with letters about on-the-day appointments.

Is the committee happy with those recommendations?

Members indicated agreement.

Maurice Golden has a short supplementary question.

Thank you. I call Clare Adamson.

Yes.

Do members of the committee agree to take that action?

Members indicated agreement.

Our next continued petition, PE1953, which was lodged by Roisin Taylor-Young, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to review education support staff roles in order to consider urgently raising wages for education support staff across the primary and secondary sector to £26,000 per annum; to increase the hours of the working week for educational support staff from 27.5 to 35 hours; to allow educational support staff to work on personal learning plans, with teachers taking part in multi-agency meetings; to require educational support staff to register with the Scottish Social Services Council; and to pay educational support staff monthly.

We last considered the petition at our meeting on 31 May 2023, when we agreed to seek an update on the Bute house agreement commitment to explore options

“for the development of an accredited qualification and registration programme for Additional Support Needs assistants”.

In her recent response, the cabinet secretary stated that the intention had been for ministers to consider a report in autumn 2023 but that the work had been delayed due to competing priorities in the portfolio. The report is now due to be published in the first quarter of 2024.

The cabinet secretary’s response also reported that officials have engaged with counterparts in England and Wales on their approaches to its work, and that they hosted two online workshops in September 2023.

Do members have any comments or suggestions?