Committee
Education, Children and Young People Committee 17 December 2025
17 Dec 2025 · S6 · Education, Children and Young People Committee
Item of business
Cross-portfolio Session
Welcome back. Our next item of business is an evidence session on the various portfolios of the cabinet secretary and ministers, who are with their officials.
The committee will take evidence from: Jenny Gilruth, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills; Natalie Don-Innes, Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise; and Ben Macpherson, Minister for Higher and Further Education. From the Scottish Government, I welcome: Clare Hicks, director of education reform; Adam Reid, deputy director for skills; Alison Taylor, interim director for learning; and Andrew Watson, director for children and families.
I welcome all the ministers and officials, and I invite the cabinet secretary to make an opening statement.
In the same item of business
The Convener
Con
Welcome back. Our next item of business is an evidence session on the various portfolios of the cabinet secretary and ministers, who are with their officials...
The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills (Jenny Gilruth)
SNP
Good morning. The year 2025 is proving to be a landmark one in Scottish education. Children in our primary and secondary schools are achieving record levels ...
The Convener
Con
Thank you very much. As you will understand, we will go through themes so that we do not jump about between too many different topics. First, we will continu...
Jenny Gilruth
SNP
Yes, I caught some of Professor Alexis Jay’s evidence when I was sitting in my office this morning, and I think that it was quite helpful.
The Convener
Con
It was certainly helpful for the committee. Professor Jay said that what has now been set up and proposed is workable, but she is keen to take a few months t...
Jenny Gilruth
SNP
I heard your question on that point, convener, and I heard Professor Alexis Jay say in response that she is supportive of the approach that we have put out i...
The Convener
Con
That is certainly welcomed by me and, I am sure, by other committee members. I accept that you are leading on this work as the Government minister but, outs...
Jenny Gilruth
SNP
First, in relation to victims—again, I will say more about this later in my statement to Parliament—we all need to be mindful that, when we talk about these ...
The Convener
Con
I am not trying to jump ahead to see whether we have an actual inquiry; Mr Mason was asking about judge-led inquiries and suchlike. The question is more abou...
Jenny Gilruth
SNP
I am not necessarily sure that I would say that that was correct. As I understand it, Alexis Jay met last week with His Majesty’s chief inspector of const...
The Convener
Con
Does the Government have a view, or do you have a personal view on mandatory reporting?
Jenny Gilruth
SNP
Yes, I do.
The Convener
Con
Would you like to share it with the committee?
Jenny Gilruth
SNP
My view is that we should be supportive of mandatory reporting. That is the view of my minister, and I believe that it is also the view of the justice secret...
The Convener
Con
Why do we not have it? You sound very impassioned about the issue. You have been in post for some time.
Jenny Gilruth
SNP
I have.
The Convener
Con
Your party has been in Government for many years. Why do we not have mandatory reporting?
Jenny Gilruth
SNP
I think that you made that point to Alexis Jay, who spoke about some of the challenges and alluded to potential legislative change. I do not want to get ahea...
The Convener
Con
Do you accept that it could have been introduced before now?
Jenny Gilruth
SNP
There are challenges in that space. We must consider the historical position of lots of different organisations. Today, I am in front of you as education sec...
Andrew Watson
To add to the cabinet secretary’s points, a few important things on the implementation of mandatory reporting have to be considered, which Professor Jay allu...
The Convener
Con
I have a final question on the subject. We asked Professor Jay and the justice secretary about their correspondence and sought a clarification on what was sa...
Jenny Gilruth
SNP
In relation to the strategic group minutes?
The Convener
Con
Yes. Regarding why the Official Report had not been updated, your response to Gary Robertson on “The Sunday Show” was: “There was an ask for clarification ...
Jenny Gilruth
SNP
I heard that.
The Convener
Con
The way I listened to it on Sunday was that you were saying that the ask potentially came from Professor Jay or someone else. Do you accept that there was no...
Jenny Gilruth
SNP
At that point, I was not privy to the internal dialogue on that between the chief social work adviser and Alexis Jay. I was making the point that a clarifica...
The Convener
Con
That was on Sunday.
Jenny Gilruth
SNP
Yes, I am aware of that. However, I was not aware of the internal dialogue between the chief social worker and Alexis Jay, which I heard about in this mornin...
The Convener
Con
It was her preferred route because she was offered only two routes: a response from the cabinet secretary or that more public route of a clarification in the...