Education and Skills Committee

Meeting date: Friday, June 12, 2020

Official Report 608KB pdf

Subordinate Legislation

Police Act 1997 and the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007 (Fees) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020 (SSI 2020/163)

Agenda item 2 is consideration of a negative instrument. Do members have any comments on the instrument?

As no member has indicated otherwise, the committee agrees that it is content with the instrument.

Registration of Independent Schools (Prescribed Person) (Coronavirus) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2020 [Draft]

Agenda item 3 is consideration of the draft Registration of Independent Schools (Prescribed Person) (Coronavirus) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2020, which are subject to the affirmative procedure. First, the committee will have the opportunity to ask questions of the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills. After that, we will move to agenda item 4, under which there will be a debate on the motion.

I welcome to the committee John Swinney MSP. I invite him to make an opening statement and to explain the regulations.

Thank you very much, convener. I welcome the opportunity to address the committee in connection with the draft regulations.

The Registration of Independent Schools (Prescribed Person) (Scotland) Regulations 2017 provide that, from 1 October 2020, only a teacher who is registered with the General Teaching Council for Scotland can be appointed as a teacher in an independent school. We listened to the views of the sector at the time of consulting on those regulations, and we extended the proposed transition period for those who had been in the system for some time from an initial two-year period to three years. We believed that that was sufficient at the time, given the progress that had been made by the General Teaching Council for Scotland in identifying alternative routes to registration, including the introduction of provisional and conditional registration. However, in April this year, it was clear that, although most teachers were already registered, registration was proving challenging for some and that the period from May to October would be important for working directly with individual independent schools to resolve that.

In the light of pressures arising from Covid-19, including the potential impact on the ability of individuals to train and study, it has been assessed that there is a risk that not all teachers in independent schools who were employed prior to 1 October 2017 will meet the statutory requirement to be registered with the General Teaching Council for Scotland by 1 October 2020. The regulations that are in front of the committee today were therefore drafted to amend regulation 3 of the 2017 regulations, to extend the deadline to 1 June 2021 for the remaining teachers to register with the GTCS.

On-going direct consultation with key stakeholders has been key to reaching the decision to extend the deadline for compliance and in determining the period of extension that is required. All stakeholders agreed that 1 June 2021 represents a proportionate and practical extension.

A draft of the instrument was shared from 14 to 30 April 2020 across all independent schools in Scotland. Two responses were received, both of which were supportive of the extension.

I will be happy to answer any questions from the committee about the draft regulations.

Thank you, cabinet secretary. As no member has indicated that they wish to ask a question, we move to agenda item 4, which is consideration of motion S5M-21829.

Motion moved,

That the Education and Skills Committee recommends that the Registration of Independent Schools (Prescribed Person) (Coronavirus) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2020 [draft] be approved.—[John Swinney]

Motion agreed to.

The committee must report on the instrument to the Parliament. Are members content for me, as the convener, to sign off on that report?

No member has indicated that they are not content, so that is agreed.