The Scottish government’s “extensive” education reform programme is already at risk of being hit by delays, Tes Scotland can reveal.
Minutes of a meeting - published after a Tes Scotland freedom of information (FOI) request - show that the delivery boards tasked with taking forward the reform of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) and Education Scotland have been floundering because of a lack of funding. And now the government’s goal to have operating models for its three new education agencies in place “by winter 2022” could be missed.
The minutes from the boards charged with the creation of the three new education agencies that will replace SQA and Education Scotland show that they have been stymied because they have not had the cash to recruit new staff - or to provide “backfill” for existing staff so they can take forward their work “to lead, design and deliver” the reforms.
Even though some funding is now in place, the minutes reveal that - in the case of the boards looking at how to establish an independent inspectorate and the brand new national agency for Scottish education - “only part of the requested budget was approved”.
The minutes for these delivery boards, known as the Inspectorate and Agency Delivery Boards, reveal that Education Scotland is “currently absorbing a lot of reform work from existing Education Scotland core budget, including senior staff roles”. The minutes say that, as a result, Education Scotland is “having to look strategically at work the organisation might need to pause or stop doing”.
Already, concerns have been expressed about the make-up of the boards established to take forward the government’s reforms of SQA and Education Scotland, which consist of a strategic board and three delivery boards.
Fears have been expressed that because existing SQA and Education Scotland staff dominate on the delivery boards, the reform will be nothing more than a rebrand.
On Friday, Tes Scotland revealed that these fears are shared by those on the inside of the reform process - and who sit on the strategic board - with some of the biggest hitters in Scottish education warning that existing agencies must not be “perceived to be designing their reform”.
Now, it is clear another threat looms on the horizon: funding.
The minutes from the Qualifications Body Delivery Board show the board was left in limbo while it waited for government approval of funding.
That approval finally came and the minutes of the board’s September meeting, published on Thursday, following the Tes Scotland FOI, state: “Now that funding for internal resource backfill is in place, recruitment is underway.”
However, the September meeting minutes also make it clear that “the delayed release of funding” could have “adverse impacts”, including the “doability” of having “the high-level target operating model” in place “prior to Christmas”.
Meanwhile, the minutes for the Inspectorate and Agency Delivery Boards show that - while the government has provided these boards (which meet together) with “some funding” - it has failed to provide the boards with “the full amount” members say is needed to undertake the work.
The minutes of the board’s August meeting said: “A business case was submitted to [Scottish government] for additional funding for a small number of key staff to lead and support the reform work.
“[Scottish government] have provided confirmation of some funding to support the business case, but not the full amount.”
The minutes from the September meeting said “only part of the requested budget was approved”.
The Inspectorate and Agency Delivery Boards also appear to be working in the dark, with a lack of clarity around how much funding is ultimately going to be available.
The minutes from the September meeting say Greg Dempster - the general secretary of primary leaders’ body AHDS (Association of Headteachers and Deputes in Scotland) - “stressed the importance of having an understanding of the budget available to take the work forward”.
However, the government’s “very tight financial position” was highlighted at the meeting and, because some funding is in place, the minutes said that “Education Scotland has been able to make progress on recruitment”.
The roles recruited to date are listed as: senior lead officers for the commissions (2.5 staff members in total); project managers for the commissions (two staff members in total); business partners for the commissions (two staff members in total - still being progressed).
