Meeting of the Parliament 02 February 2016
I thank Mr Griffin for once again using the opportunity that the bill offers to recognise the particular educational challenges that are faced by our looked-after children.
As I outlined during stage 2, I absolutely accept the thrust of Mr Griffin’s argument. The state has a great responsibility towards looked-after children—we are indeed their parents—and we know that their educational outcomes are not as they should be. Throughout the bill’s passage, I have been clear about my wish for it—first and foremost—to address the particular educational challenges that are associated with poverty, and that remains my view. However, I very much view the bill as the start of a process through which we can explore how best to use the powers that are set out in section A1 to support other groups who also face particular challenges. I alluded to that in response to Mr Adam’s amendments. Of course, that process must be an inclusive one. We must provide all our partners with the opportunity to consider whether such a step could practically benefit our learners and, if so, how.
I am minded to strengthen the legislative provisions for supporting that group of young people. However, we must first consider how the duty would interact with local authorities’ existing corporate parenting responsibilities, which were introduced by this Government through the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014. In addition, we will explore how the national improvement framework might be developed over time to help us meet the needs of those young people. I am sure that we would all agree about the importance of building on our recent efforts to ensure a clear line of sight between policy and legislation at the national level and face-to-face work to improve educational experiences for particular groups of learners in classrooms across the country.
I am sure that those issues are not insurmountable; I am also sure that they are not trivial, and that is exactly why we must work with others to overcome them. The regulation-making power in the bill allows for such dialogue to take place and I am happy to commit to consulting, with a view to making regulations that extend the duty to looked-after children. I intend to start that work immediately, engaging with key partners, including the centre for excellence for looked after children in Scotland education forum and children with experience of our care system.
Those discussions will be delivered in the context of a system that is undoubtedly improving outcomes for looked-after children. Attainment levels are up, as are positive destinations, while exclusions are down. We are clearly on the right path, but that is not to say that more cannot be done—more can, and must, be done.
In closing, I once again thank Mr Griffin for raising an important issue. Although I cannot support his amendments 18, 20 and 21 for the reasons that I have set out, I hope that the commitments that I have made today will provide members with reassurance on our commitment to improving the educational outcomes for that group of children.