Education Reform Inspectorate and Agency Delivery Boards minutes: July 2022

Attendees and apologies

• Gillian Hamilton (Chair)
• Maureen Hamilton (ES)
• Liza McLean, SG
• Tracy Manning, SG
• Ken McAra FDA
• Tracy Reilly, ES
• Ann Cura ES

Items and actions

Welcome and apologies

GH welcomed everyone. Apologies were noted from Patricia Watson, Janie McManus and Sean Stronach. 

Scottish Government reform programme governance

LM provided an overview of the reform governance arrangements. The following key points were highlighted. 

Noted 1: M highlighted that there are four Delivery Boards set within the wider Education Reform Programme governance arrangements – one for each of the three new bodies and one for the required policy and legislation to underpin these. However, ES were planning to combine the new inspectorate and the new agency Delivery Boards in the meantime, operating these as one Delivery Board, so there would actually be three in total.

Noted 2: Governance arrangements will be reviewed regularly throughout the reform. LM informed members that Chris Dunn is the new Reform Programme Manager. 

Noted 3:A Stakeholder Reference Group is currently being established.This group will be chaired by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills and will meet periodically to discuss progress.

Noted 4: LM also highlighted the work currently underway in relation to the Target Operating Models. These should be in place by the end of 2022. 

Delivery Board terms of reference and membership

GH updated the group on the Terms of Reference and membership. The following key points were highlighted. 

Noted 1: Formal letters have been issued to various stakeholders asking them to join the board. It was noted that members have been selected due to their experience within the education system. 

Noted 2: During the discussion it was agreed that Frances Douglas, Head of External Comms should join the Reform Delivery Board. Action 01: AC to issue invitation to Frances Douglas.

Noted 3: A question was asked regarding involvement of Children and Young People in this board. It was noted that SG will take a coherent approach to this across the Education Reform to ensure coherence.

Education Scotland’s approach to delivery

GH summarised the arrangements of the delivery board and highlighted key points below: 

• noted 1: Gayle Gorman and Fiona Robertson are members of the Scottish Government’s Strategic Programme Board
• noted 2: Programme Director meetings are taking place
• noted 3: Education Scotland Leadership Team and Advisory Board will not have a formal role in the governance of the Education Reform. GH will ensure both groups are updated on work related to the reform
• noted 4: The Change Team, which was established in ES at the beginning of the ES reform, will be retained, but its focus and membership has changed to reflect the revised governance arrangements. This group will be chaired by Maureen Hamilton
• decision 01 Following this discussion GH asked members for approval to share this paper outlining Education Scotland’s approach to operationalising the governance with Education Scotland staff. The group approved this
• action 02: Tracy Reilly to share link to paper in the staff newsletter

Commissions – new inspectorate and new education agency

MH provided a brief overview regarding the commissions:

• noted 1: Each project team will now review the commissions in more detail and create plans
• noted 2 : GH asked members if they were content to sign off these final versions of the documents, and to share these with Education Scotland staff
• decision 2: The group approved the commissions and the sharing of the papers
• noted 3: A point was raised regarding the commissions having a strong focus on external stakeholders and if there should be a more of a focus on internal staff. The group discussed this and agreed the importance of internal engagement and that this will follow as the work develops. The group agreed the importance of continuing to discuss this as we move forward

Business case – confirmation of priority posts and next steps

Noted 1: MH provided an update regarding the business case submitted regarding funding for additional staff to support the work of the reform. 

Noted 2: A formal decision is yet to be received regarding this, however, SG confirmed that Education Scotland should proceed at risk and go ahead and advertise key priority posts/assignments. 

Action 3: LM to send email to GH to confirm that ES can progress with priority posts. 

Agreement of standing agenda items

The group discussed agenda items for future meetings. It was agreed that standing agenda items should include the following: 

• review of minutes from previous meeting 
• review of action log 
• communications update 
• review of risk register 
• report from project team leading on new national agency commission 
• report from project team leading on new inspectorate agency commission
• review Terms of Reference and membership quarterly 

Any other business

There was a discussion regarding sharing of information from Reform Delivery Board meetings. Members agreed that a summary note should be produced after each meeting to share with staff and external stakeholders. A further discussion is required regarding publishing information.. 

Dates of next meetings 

The next meeting will be held on 28 July 2022 and will take place on Microsoft Teams.