Meeting of the Parliament 02 June 2026 [Draft]
I thank Angela Ross for her question and her support for the policy. I hope that we can continue to garner that support right across the chamber. I also acknowledge her comments about the preparedness and the preparations that have gone into the policy. I give credit to my predecessor in the education portfolio—the Deputy First Minister, Jenny Gilruth—for the very considered manner in which the policy has been adopted and for getting us to this stage.
Angela Ross is right to ask about flexibility. One problem with the current situation, and one reason why we need to change the law, is that some schools have adopted the approach and others have not, and that variability across the country will be letting down some pupils. We cannot have that and we have to correct it, but flexibility will continue to be an important aspect. The guidance as it stands allows for school-appropriate flexibility, including on whether the ban applies in the classroom or to the whole campus, and what exemptions might be made available.
Another thing that is critical to making the policy work practically, which is what Angela Ross’s question was about, is the whole-school-community approach to its development. That has to involve the heads of schools and teachers working with parents and carers, and, crucially, with young people. When I visited James Gillespie’s high school, I found that it has put a great deal of emphasis on the whole school community’s buy-in to the policy, and that was bearing fruit in its implementation.