Chamber and committees

The Seasonal Flu Programme has worked this year with the following third sector organisations to help amplify the Scottish Government message to ensure optimal vaccination uptake this year.

We are working with local authorities to agree an appropriate date for the implementation of this commitment. I will update Parliament on that agreement when it has been reached.

Once the amended duty is in force, it will provide that deferred children who turn five years old between the August and December after the school commencement date, are eligible for funded early learning and childcare in the deferred year.

This will entitle these children to the mandatory amount of early learning and childcare that education authorities must provide to eligible children in their area, as set out in the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 (“the 2014 Act”). Section 48 of the 2014 Act currently provides that the mandatory amount of funded early learning and childcare is 600 hours in each year and a pro-rata amount for each part of a year of which a child is eligible.

The Scottish Government remains committed to the reinstatement of the statutory duty to provide 1140 hours as early as reasonably possible. The Joint Delivery Board, co-chaired by myself and Councillor Stephen McCabe, COSLA Spokesperson for Children and Young People, agreed in June that a decision would be taken by the end of 2020 on the appropriate time to reinstate that duty. We are working with colleagues in Local Government to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on expansion plans, to inform that decision.

Our revised sectoral guidance for colleges, universities and student accommodation providers sets out the mitigations which should be in place to support blended learning in Phase 3. The guidance is clear that institutions and providers should use risk and equality assessments to determine the most appropriate blend of remote and face-to-face teaching. The blended learning approach for each course and the circumstances around each course is therefore determined by these risk assessments, which should be done in consultation with staff and trade unions, and may vary depending on the course.

We continue to engage with colleges, universities, accommodation providers, trade unions and student representatives in ensuring the safety and wellbeing of students and staff through this period. The Health and Safety Executive and Environmental Health Officers continue to liaise with the Scottish Government and institutions to assist the wider public health response.

The Pre-release Access to Official Statistics (Scotland) Order 2008 sets out the rules and principles governing pre-release access to Official Statistics in Scotland. SQA 2020 Attainment statistics were not published as Official Statistics, however, SQA followed the principles as good practice. The main purpose of pre-release access is to ensure that the Scottish Ministers or officials advising them are able to comment publicly on the statistics based on an understanding of them gained through the pre-release period. The number of people who receive pre-release access should be kept to the absolute minimum necessary for this purpose. Pre-release access does not extend beyond that to the wider membership of CERG.

On 1 September 2020, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) Incorporation Bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament. Incorporation of the UNCRC into Scots law will mean that children, young people and their families will experience public authorities consistently acting to uphold the rights of all children in Scotland. Public authorities, including Scottish Ministers, will be under a statutory duty not to act incompatibly with the UNCRC rights as set out in the Bill and rights holders will be able to challenge public authorities in the courts for breaches of their rights.

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted that children’s rights matter now more than ever. This is why the Scottish Government remains committed to delivery of the UNCRC Incorporation Bill in this Parliament. The Scottish Government wants the Bill to take effect as soon as possible. However, we are mindful of the additional pressures facing public authorities at this time due to the Covid pandemic and will work closely with public authorities and other stakeholders to develop an effective and timely implementation plan. We will also listen carefully to views expressed to the Equalities and Human Rights Committee on commencement in the coming weeks. The timetable for implementation will be very much dependent on the decisions of Parliament.

The Scottish Government has engaged with several organisations regarding the creation of a physical and digital government produced face covering exemption card, particularly those from third sector organisations.

The exemption card will be branded with the NHS Scotland and Healthier Scotland logo and produced under the FACTS campaign.

The exemption card will be accessible to the public as soon as practically possible; the card will be accessible through a third sector organisation via a helpline or online contact form.

We are currently working with both the college and university sectors on the best approaches to be taken in the current pandemic situation to ensure students receive the best educational experience and also remain safe.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) is an independent body and the detail of the moderation process was an operational decision for them. I confirm that I was informed of the 2020 awarding approach to moderation on 30 July 2020. The presentation reported that the model would allow for a variance in centre performance in 2020 over or under previous historic performance of the previous 4 years. The SQA’s National Qualifications 2020 Methodology Report, released on 4 August, provides an explanation of the moderation approach, including the tolerances added to allow for variability in centre performance, adopted this year.

Professor Priestley’s review of the National Qualifications Experience 2020 was published on 7 October: https://www.gov.scot/publications/rapid-review-national-qualifications-experience-2020/ . The Scottish Government response was published on the same day: https://www.gov.scot/publications/rapid-review-of-national-qualifications-experience-2020-our-response/ .

The review considered a range of evidence from stakeholders and analysis of published materials, emails and other communications between officials, the Scottish Qualifications Authority and other partners.

Our position to date, as outlined in the Strategic Framework for Re-opening Schools published in May, has been for an exam diet to be held next year. However, in these exceptional times the Scottish Qualifications Authority and the Education Recovery Group have been looking at contingency plans. The current circumstances and the continued impact of COVID-19 present the significant risk of disruption to the running of the exam diet in 2021.

I set out in my statement to Parliament on 7 October that Higher and Advanced Higher exams will go ahead in 2021 with a clear contingency plan in place should public health guidance near the time make that not possible. I also outlined that in response to the recommendations of Professor Priestley's review, and discussions with stakeholders, that no exams would take place for National 5 courses and an alternative approach for assessing these qualifications will be used based on teacher judgement, supported by assessment resources and quality assurance.