Chamber
Plenary, 22 Mar 2007
22 Mar 2007 · S2 · Plenary
Item of business
Education
I am pleased to follow Lord James Douglas-Hamilton in the debate, because that gives me an opportunity to pay tribute to him after his final speech in this place.
I have had the privilege of working with Lord James Douglas-Hamilton in a number of capacities in the Scottish Parliament. In the early days of the Parliament, we were members of the Parliamentary Bureau and, more recently, he was my deputy after I took over the role of convener of the Education Committee. I was also fortunate to be part of two Commonwealth Parliamentary Association branch visits that he led to Canada in 2001 and 2003. Both visits were valuable and enjoyable experiences.
In an earlier life, of course, Lord James was a minister in the Conservative Government, as Fiona Hyslop said. I might not agree with everything that he did, but he can take credit for and be rightly proud of steering the Children (Scotland) Bill through the House of Commons. The Children (Scotland) Act 1995 remains the definitive piece of children's legislation in Scotland.
I thank Lord James personally for his generosity and kindness in everything that we have done together in this Parliament, and particularly for his support to me in my role as convener of the Education Committee. I wish him well in his retirement to another place. He will be missed here.
Today's debate gives the Parliament an opportunity to take stock of the progress that is being made in Scotland's schools, which the minister ably did earlier, and allows each party to lay out its stall for the next session.
It is sad that the debate so far has merely shown the lack of vision of the other parties. The Conservatives remain stuck in another decade, harking back to a golden age that never existed. They are irrelevant in Scotland. They talk about an education bill, but they will not be able to introduce it because, as they have said, they will not go into government, which means that they will be unable to deliver any of their policies.
The Scottish National Party, on the other hand, tries to hide its dearth of policy in a lengthy amendment that adds up to little. Of course, that is not a problem for the SNP because its sums never add up.
The SNP's ambition is to match the current Scottish Executive rebuilding and refurbishment programme "brick by brick"—my, that is ambitious. However, the SNP plans to dismantle the funding system that enables that programme to take place, which will immediately prevent any new school building or refurbishment programme from starting. Not until some point in the future will the SNP will be able to replace the public-private partnership/private finance initiative arrangement with its fantasy funding mechanism—which will basically be the same as PPP/PFI but called something cosier. In the meantime, it will abandon hundreds of thousands of kids, leaving them stuck in crumbling old schools. That is the reality of the SNP's policy.
I have had the privilege of working with Lord James Douglas-Hamilton in a number of capacities in the Scottish Parliament. In the early days of the Parliament, we were members of the Parliamentary Bureau and, more recently, he was my deputy after I took over the role of convener of the Education Committee. I was also fortunate to be part of two Commonwealth Parliamentary Association branch visits that he led to Canada in 2001 and 2003. Both visits were valuable and enjoyable experiences.
In an earlier life, of course, Lord James was a minister in the Conservative Government, as Fiona Hyslop said. I might not agree with everything that he did, but he can take credit for and be rightly proud of steering the Children (Scotland) Bill through the House of Commons. The Children (Scotland) Act 1995 remains the definitive piece of children's legislation in Scotland.
I thank Lord James personally for his generosity and kindness in everything that we have done together in this Parliament, and particularly for his support to me in my role as convener of the Education Committee. I wish him well in his retirement to another place. He will be missed here.
Today's debate gives the Parliament an opportunity to take stock of the progress that is being made in Scotland's schools, which the minister ably did earlier, and allows each party to lay out its stall for the next session.
It is sad that the debate so far has merely shown the lack of vision of the other parties. The Conservatives remain stuck in another decade, harking back to a golden age that never existed. They are irrelevant in Scotland. They talk about an education bill, but they will not be able to introduce it because, as they have said, they will not go into government, which means that they will be unable to deliver any of their policies.
The Scottish National Party, on the other hand, tries to hide its dearth of policy in a lengthy amendment that adds up to little. Of course, that is not a problem for the SNP because its sums never add up.
The SNP's ambition is to match the current Scottish Executive rebuilding and refurbishment programme "brick by brick"—my, that is ambitious. However, the SNP plans to dismantle the funding system that enables that programme to take place, which will immediately prevent any new school building or refurbishment programme from starting. Not until some point in the future will the SNP will be able to replace the public-private partnership/private finance initiative arrangement with its fantasy funding mechanism—which will basically be the same as PPP/PFI but called something cosier. In the meantime, it will abandon hundreds of thousands of kids, leaving them stuck in crumbling old schools. That is the reality of the SNP's policy.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Trish Godman):
Lab
The next item of business is a debate on motion S2M-5775, in the name of Hugh Henry, on celebrating success in Scottish education.
The Minister for Education and Young People (Hugh Henry):
Lab
I am delighted to open a debate that gives us an opportunity to put on record all the significant developments that are taking place in Scottish education.As...
Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP):
SNP
If such substantial progress has been made since the Labour-Liberal Executive came to power, can the minister explain why in 1997 there were 1,707 teachers i...
Hugh Henry:
Lab
The Executive has delivered on its commitment to bring in more teachers. Indeed, by August, we will have met our target of 53,000 teachers in Scotland. As th...
Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con):
Con
The minister is not the only one who visits schools in Scotland; as he would expect, we all do. Secondary schools have been telling us that a quarter of prim...
Hugh Henry:
Lab
We can address some of the issues that still have to be tackled. The fact is that Scotland's performance ranks in the top third of Organisation for Economic ...
Richard Lochhead (Moray) (SNP):
SNP
Does the minister agree that it is unfortunate that many of the rural schools in Moray that have received excellent inspection reports in recent years have b...
Hugh Henry:
Lab
Any such decision—and, indeed, the quality of education in the area—is a matter for the local authority in Moray. However, we are determined to raise standar...
Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP):
SNP
I greatly appreciated the minister's list of visits to schools in marginal constituencies with Labour members who are in their final days in office.The SNP i...
Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind):
Ind
Does the member have any information on the geographical location and sociological demographics of the classes that she describes as being too big?
Fiona Hyslop:
SNP
Margo MacDonald makes a good point. Indeed, in the debate on the Crichton campus at lunch time, the issue was raised in relation to Dumfries and Galloway. Pe...
Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD):
LD
Will the member give way?
Fiona Hyslop:
SNP
I want to move on.We should be introducing a baccalaureate as a group award in highers for top performance, first in languages and then in science, to encour...
Mr Davidson:
Con
Will Ms Hyslop enlighten us on the science baccalaureate? What plans does the SNP have to fill the current shortages in science teachers at the top end of sc...
Fiona Hyslop:
SNP
The SNP plans to maintain teacher numbers in the face of falling school rolls. We will encourage people to become teachers, particularly early years, science...
Hugh Henry:
Lab
Will the member take an intervention?
Fiona Hyslop:
SNP
I am in my last minute.The extra cost of PPP finance means that schools will lose at least £900,000 that could be spent on more books, better equipment and m...
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con):
Con
Like Fiona Hyslop, we all believe strongly in the pursuit of educational excellence. I thank her for her kind words about the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. I...
Hugh Henry:
Lab
I pay tribute to Lord James for the contribution that he has made to public life in Scotland over many years. He has played a distinguished role not only in ...
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton:
Con
There have been substantial improvements to Scottish education since before that time. Those improvements have been steady and we must learn from them. Howev...
Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD):
LD
Will the member take an intervention?
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton:
Con
I will take a brief intervention, but I have quite a lot to say.
Margaret Smith:
LD
Does the member agree that it is important that Scottish history be taught in our schools, if for no other reason than to remind children of the important ro...
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton:
Con
I thank Margaret Smith and Hugh Henry very much for their kind words.I support the teaching of history in schools, although not for the reason that Margaret ...
Iain Smith (North East Fife) (LD):
LD
I am pleased to follow Lord James Douglas-Hamilton in the debate, because that gives me an opportunity to pay tribute to him after his final speech in this p...
Margo MacDonald:
Ind
Will the Treasury have an interest in whether the PPP-style mechanism can be replaced with another one, or will it be something that is just for the Scottish...
Iain Smith:
LD
My understanding is that the Scottish Parliament does not have the power to create the bonds that the SNP proposes to have, which means that the policy would...
Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP):
SNP
We are going to abolish the council tax, not cap it.
Iain Smith:
LD
Whether it is the council tax or the local income tax that is capped, it will starve local authorities of resources. Worse than that, the SNP will put all th...
Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab):
Lab
I start by adding to the tributes to Lord James Douglas-Hamilton. Some 30 or so years ago, Lord James was my MP, although I am afraid that I did not vote for...