About the Inquiry
Legislative Consent Memorandum
Find out more about the Coronavirus Bill 2019-21. You can read the Legislative Consent Memorandum (LCM) and the SPICe briefing on the Education elements of the LCM below:
LCMs are usually lodged in the Scottish Parliament by the Scottish Government. They relate to Bills under consideration in the United Kingdom Parliament which contain what are known as “relevant provisions”. These provisions could:
- change the law on a “devolved matter” (an area of policy which the UK Parliament devolved to the Scottish Parliament in the Scotland Act 1998, or
- alter the “legislative competence” of the Scottish Parliament (its powers to make laws) or the “executive competence” of Scottish Ministers (their powers to govern).
Watch a short animation about Legislative Consent
Further Information
Please find a link here to the Committees 'vulnerable children during the coronavirus outbreak' webpage. The issues on the Vulnerable children's page overlap with issues on this page
Timetable
The Committee will focus on the impact of Covid- 19 on Children and Young People in the coming months.
Evidence
COVID-19 and schools: views of children and young people
2021
January 2021
The Committee received a link to guidance on remote learning from Education Scotland . The guidance can be accessed here.
February 2021
3 February 2021
The Committee heard evidence from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills on the reopening of schools and early learning centres and the impact on vulnerable children.
You can view the video of the meeting here.
The Convener wrote to the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills to follow up on several points from the meeting on 3 February 2021. The letter to and the response from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills is noted below
The Convener wrote to the EIS, NASUWT and the SSTA regarding guidance and challenges for individual subjects which is following on from the meeting on 3 February with the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills.
The Convener wrote to the SQA following the Committee meeting on 3 February 2021 with the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills.
The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills wrote to the convener about the phased reopening of schools and childcare.
March 2021
24 March 2021
The Committee is due to hear evidence from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills on Coronavirus and Education.
You can view the video of the meeting here.
Submissions
The Convener wrote to the local authorities to gather information regarding the councils plans for learning catch up.
The Committee received the following responses from Local Authorities.
2020
On 17 June 2020, the Committee held an informal consultation session with MSYPs from the Scottish Youth Parliament’s Education and Lifelong Learning Committee on the impact of COVID-19 on schools.
Reopening of schools and early learning centres
The Committee received a letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills along with a report on the Strategic framework for reopening schools. you can read the report and the letter below.
The Committee received a letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills regarding guidance for the reopening of schools.
The Committee received a letter from the Minister for Children and Young People about guidance for the reopening of Early Learning Centres and Childcare services
5 June 2020
The Committee heard evidence from the EIS and School Leaders Scotland on the impact pf Covid-19 on the reopening of schools.
You can view the meeting of 5 June 2020 here.
12 June 2020
The Committee heard evidence from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills on the impact of Covid-19 on the reopening of schools and early learning centres, the impact on vulnerable children and the exam diet 2020.
You can view the meeting of 12 June 2020 here.
19 June 2020
The Committee heard evidence from COSLA and from the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES) on the impact of Covid-19 on the reopening of schools and early learning centres and the impact on vulnerable children.
You can view the video of the meeting here.
27 July 2020
The Committee heard evidence from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills and from COSLA on the impact of Covid-19 on the reopening of schools and early learning centres and other relevant issues.
You can view the video of the meeting here.
Following the evidence session on 27 July the committee wrote to the Education Recovery Group and also to all councils seeking clarity on a number of key issues. The letter to and a response from the ERG is here:
You can read the Local Authority responses below
16 September 2020
The Committee heard evidence from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills and from COSLA on the impact of Covid-19 on the reopening of schools and early learning centres, the exam diet, counselling and wellbeing in schools and additional support needs.
You can view the video of the meeting here.
Following the meeting on the 16th September the Committee agreed to write to the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills to follow up points from the meeting and the Committee agreed the letter should be copied to the Covid-19 Committee and the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport for information. You can read the letter to and the response from the Cabinet Secretary below.
Submissions September 2020
Submissions June/ July 2020
The Committee received the following submissions from the following the Scottish Government announcement about the reopening of schools and early learning centre from organisation.
Academics
Organisations
Young People’s views
Parents and Parent Organisations
Trade Unions
Early Learning, After school care and 1140 hours early years expansion
Organisations
Parents
Parents/ Carers
Connect sent the Committee the findings from its parent/carer 'How are you doing?' survey, this ran throughout April 2020 and captures families' experience during the COVID19 lockdown. A link to the findings is here.
Connect also sent the Committee a paper which reflects on the findings from their survey, a link to this paper is here.
Youth Work
YouthLink sent the Committee an open letter to National and Local Politicians, which details their survey of the Youth work sector and the effects of Covid-19. The letter can be read here.
Written answers on Coronavirus
The written answers from Ministers on Coronavirus issues that fall within the Education and Skills remit will be published below each week.
There are no Covid-19 written answers in the week beginning 20 April 2020.
Correspondence
The Cabinet Secretary signalled that the Scottish Government would provide the Committee with Covid-19 guidance relevant to the education and skills portfolio. Links to the guidance are noted below.
The NHS and The Scottish Government published the following guidance documents:
The Scottish Government published the following guidance.
Skills Development Scotland sent the Committee a list of useful links to various support services which will support individuals and business.
The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills has written to the education authorities in respect of the Coronavirus and the closures of schools and early learning centres.
The Convener wrote to the Cabinet Secretary regarding the provisions of the UK Coronavirus Bill relating to the Committee's remit. The Conveners letter and the response from the Cabinet Secretary are noted below.
The Committee meeting on 25 March was cancelled due to public health restrictions as a result of COVID-19. On that basis the Committee sought written evidence from the Cabinet Secretary in place of an evidence session in Parliament. The letter and the responses from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills are below.
The questions were informed by personal experiences and questions from individuals that have been shared with Committee members. The anonymised contributions received on school education mainly relating to qualifications are here:
As well as writing to the Cabinet Secretary, the Committee has also highlighted the same issues and contributions from individuals to the SQA:
The Cabinet Secretary shared guidance from the SQA on qualifications on 2 April.
The Cabinet Secretary wrote to the Committee on 3 April setting out his approach to issues arising from the coronavirus pandemic:
The Convener received correspondence from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills and a letter from the Director of Education to the Presiding Officer. This correspondence is in respect of Subordinate Legislation SSI 2020/128: The Education (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Coronavirus) (Scotland) Regulations 2020. The letters can be accessed below
Education Scotland forwarded a copy of a letter that they had sent to the Directors of Education regarding their work around Covid-19.
The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills wrote to the Convener to advise that the Scottish Government has decided that the collection of Achievement of CfE level (ACEL) data for 2019/20 should not go ahead.
The Convener wrote to the Co-Chairs of the Education Recovery Group to highlight some key issues for the upcoming meetings.
The Committee received a letter from the Minister for Children and Young People regarding guidance for the safe reopening of childcare settings in phase 3.
The Committee received correspondence from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills and the Children and Young Person Spokesperson COSLA as joint chairs of the Education Recovery Group. This letter set out an update on the key issues that Education Recovery group are considering.
The Committee received correspondence from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills in respect of the Educational Continuity (No.3) Direction. The letter and links to the Continuity direction are below.
The Committee received correspondence from the Minister for Children and Young People regarding the 1140 hours expansion to funded Childcare. A joint statement from the Minister for Children and Young People and COSLA was also received.
The Committee wrote and received a response from the Education Recovery Group on the reopening of schools (9 July).
The Committee received a letter and a copy of a notice from the Minister for Children and Young People regarding guidance for Childminding settings in phase 3.
The Committee received correspondence from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills in respect of the Educational Continuity (No.4) Direction. The letter and links to the Continuity direction are below.
The Committee received correspondence from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills in respect of the change of dates for Critical Childcare.
The Committee wrote to COSLA regarding Pupil Equity Funding.
The Committee received correspondence from the Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science regarding funding for outdoor education centres.
The Committee received correspondence from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills in respect of updated guidance on schools.
The Committee received correspondence from the Minister for Children and Young People regarding updated guidance for the childcare sector.
The Convener received correspondence from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills regarding the Christmas and new year school holidays.
The Convener received correspondence from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills regarding the arrangements for the phased reopening of schools in January 2021.
The Committee received correspondence from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills in respect of the Educational Continuity (No.7) Direction. The letter and links to the Continuity direction are below.
The Committee received correspondence from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills in respect of the Educational Continuity (No.8) Direction. The letter and links to the Continuity direction are below.
The Committee received correspondence from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills in respect of the Educational Continuity (No.9) Direction. The letter and links to the Continuity direction are below.
The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills wrote to the Convener to advise that supplementary guidance for schools reopening in March 2021 had been published
The Committee received correspondence from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills in respect of the Educational Continuity (No.10) Direction. The letter and links to the Continuity direction are below.