The National Parent Forum of Scotland (NPFS) is a volunteer-led organisation that ensures “parents play a full and equal role in education”.
So says the website of Scotland’s inspection and curriculum body Education Scotland - but it has now emerged that the Scottish government plans to cut all central funding for the NPFS.
In place of the NPFS, the government says it plans to establish a “National Parent Panel”, which will be run by Connect, the body formerly known as the Scottish Parent Teacher Council. Connect also specialises in parental involvement in education.
The news follows a government-funded independent review of NPFS, which cost £16,000.
Speaking to Tes Scotland today, NPFS chair Cheryl Burnett said the review had been “overwhelmingly positive”, and she was “shocked” and “dismayed” by the government’s decision.
The review was concluded in February, but Ms Burnett said NPFS was asked not to publicise its findings until after discussion with education secretary Jenny Gilruth. However, she said that meeting never came.
NPFS ‘helped parents influence education’
The review, conducted by Anne Gibson, says NPFS has “played a critical role in providing a vehicle for parents to have a direct influence on a wide range of issues relating to their children’s education and health and wellbeing”.
It adds that there is “no doubt that NPFS has been successful in enhancing the role of parents in the decisions that impact on children’s lives since its inception”.
However, it adds that “the last four years have presented significant challenges for NPFS” and that there have been “tensions” between NPFS and the Scottish government, in particular over funding.
The review says: “Difficulties in agreeing the strategic focus of the organisation, funding restrictions, uncertainty regarding future funding have all impacted on trust and reduced flexibility for the organisation to operate.”
The first of the review’s key recommendations is that “agreement needs to be reached on Scottish government funding for NPFS as a matter of urgency”.
This is needed “to enable the organisation to forward plan, operate effectively and take forward an action plan which addresses the improvements highlighted in the review”.
The review adds: “NPFS cannot take forward improvements without financial support.”
However, the Scottish government has now confirmed that NPFS - which was set up in 2009 in the wake of legislation designed to improve the involvement of parents in education - is to receive no further funding.
Ms Burnett said that before the pandemic the NFPS received £133,000, a year but last year that dropped to just £53,000. Funding for this financial year had been put on hold due to the review.
‘Shocked, dismayed and appalled’
Ms Burnett said she is “shocked, dismayed and appalled” by the government’s decision.
She said NPFS fed in vital information to national groups during the pandemic, including the Covid-19 Education Recovery Group. It was also NPFS that represented parents at the summits held by the education secretary last year in response to worries about escalating violence in schools.
Ms Burnett, who has been chair since 2022, added: “The government made a commitment to parents that they would have their voices heard. Our volunteers have kids in education, they have that lived experience, and that was shaping policy at the highest level and then feeding back on how it was being implemented. It’s about accountability. How is the government going to be truly accountable?”
A Scottish government spokesperson said the government was “committed to strengthening parental engagement and has been carefully considering options to deliver this in the most effective way”.
The spokesperson added that the government had asked Connect “to host a new National Parent Panel (NPP) which will allow the views of a diverse range of parents and carers to be sought on a range of issues relating to education and to feed into national policy development”.
The spokesperson said the new panel would become operational in time for the start of the new school year.
The spokesperson added: “We are very grateful to the NPFS chair, leadership team and volunteers for the significant contributions over a number of years. We hope they will continue to play a part under the new arrangements.”
Connect executive director Gavin Yates, who joined the organisation in April, said it was “excited” at the prospect of hosting the panel and that the goal was to reach out to parents “across Scotland - not just geographically but also into specific communities of interest”.
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