Meeting of the Parliament 16 December 2025 [Draft]
I very much recognise those concerns, which I have laid out very clearly to members in the chamber and to committee several times. In fact, I engaged directly with the teacher trade unions to discuss their concerns at various stages of the bill, so I absolutely hear them.
To go back to what I said about the staging of the implementation, there is a need to gather data and understand the next steps that need to be taken before commencement.
I made it clear in my parliamentary statement to the chamber on 24 September that, if the Government was to be in a position to support the bill, we needed to see the affordability of its provisions addressed, specifically in regard to equity of provision, workforce implications and the duty on Scottish ministers to fund. I welcome that Liz Smith and others were receptive to such changes. Collectively, we have worked to improve the bill on those points, specifically by amending the duty to fund provision at stage 2 and by enabling financial contributions to be sought. Notwithstanding those improvements, implementing the bill will still incur substantial costs for education authorities, and I fully expect the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to raise those in future budget discussions.
Overall, I am pleased that we have been able to work together across the Parliament to find common ground and arrive at a bill that I hope that we can all support. I look forward to hearing other members’ contributions to the debate.
17:06