Education Reform Programme Board minutes - August 2024

Attendees and apologies

Attendees:

• Clare Hicks (CH)
• Lisa Bird (LB)
• Adam Reid (AR)
• Graeme Logan (GL)
• Chris Dunne (CD)
• Gillian Hamilton (GH)
• Fiona Robertson (FR)
• Janie McManus (JM)
• Carrie Lindsay (CL)
• Matthew Sweeney (MS)
• Sarah Hart (SH)
• Sean Stronach (SS)
• Kieran Watson (KW)

Apologies:

• Shirley Laing (SL)
• Sheena Devlin (SD)
• Jayne Scott (JS)
• Laura Caven (LC)

Guests

• Simon Mair (SM)

PMO

• Molly Illingworth (MI)
• Pauline Hendry (PH)
• Rory Smith (RS)
• Lewis Worobec (LW)

Items and actions

Welcome and introductions

The Chair welcomed members to the meeting of the Programme Board and noted apologies received.

Previous action points

The minutes of the previous meeting were shared with members on 18 June 2024, with comments requested by close of play on 24 June. No comments were received, and the minutes are now considered approved. There is 1 open action from the last board. 3 have been closed. 

Open action

Scottish Government to alert Programme Board members in advance of publication of the IRQA response - Ongoing, not yet ready for publication.

Closed action

Agency Body Implementation Project team to discuss practicalities of refocussed Education Scotland further with Gillian Hamilton and Janie McManus - Meetings ongoing with ES

During the meeting it was raised that this action may have been prematurely closed, and a conversation about the practicalities for Education Scotland would still be welcomed. The action has been reopened and Scottish Government colleagues will take forwards.

Strategic - Foward look

Finance update

Members were informed of the introduction of spending controls in place for the Scottish Government and public bodies. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government has announced new Spending Controls to manage the challenging financial position, and to ensure the Scottish Government can achieve a balanced budget.

The Cabinet Secretary has written to public body Chief Executives (and Chairs) setting out the current position and how these controls relate to public bodies, and it is envisaged that the same controls in place for SG will apply to public bodies.

A range of options are being explored to balance the budget for this financial year. The need for clarity on what these controls mean for the programme was highlighted, with more information expected in due course.

High level delivery milestones

The Education (Scotland) Bill was introduced prior to summer recess and committee session appearance dates have now been scheduled, with the first taking place in early September. The Cabinet Secretary is scheduled to have a formal public session in early October. Briefing and evidence gathering for these is currently underway. Some Programme Board members indicated that they are aware of (and in some cases participating in) committee sessions during September.

The Scottish Government response to the Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment is expected in September.

The Programme for Government is expected following summer recess. Reference to education reform work is expected to be included.

Post School Education and Skills Reform (PSESR) update

The Post School Education and Skills Reform Committee took place at the end June.

The consultation on the proposals for the legislation runs until 20 September.

The design for national skills planning is expected by March 2025. A set of guidelines for regional skills planning is expected by September 2024.

Improved apprenticeship models are expected by the end of the year.

SQA colleagues are finalising a paper on the review of post school qualifications work with Lifelong Learning and Skills Scottish Government colleagues.

It was noted that the post schools work will be relevant to the work of the inspectorate. An offer was made to provide advice and evidence on the inspectorate’s involvement in apprenticeship models.

Action: PSESR colleague to initiate contact with Inspectorate member to discuss post school planning.

Public Service Reform (PSR) update

SM presented an overview of the work of Public Service Reform.

It was noted that Parliament have accepted the characteristics of the reform and that a programme of work will be set out to Parliament and reported on in September.

The PSR team are working closely with Education Reform to consider the integration of long and short term activities on reform. CD presented an overview of the PSR relationship with the Education Reform programme. The draft refreshed benefits model and updated business case decision making criteria reflects these aims.

The key focuses of PSR are efficiencies and savings, as well as service reform and demand reduction.

Members expressed that they wish to further understand the challenges and opportunities arising from reform. They also queried how much the financial constraints change the narrative around this work. It was noted that there is still work to be done to align the programmes of work, and that resources will need to be considered carefully. Lessons will be learned from other areas that have gone through the challenging process of redesign of bodies.

Draft refreshed benefits model

CD presented an overview of the draft refreshed benefits model.

The Model has been refreshed in the last few months. Revisions and additions have been made in conjunction with a range of colleagues, including the Project Steering and Assurance Group, Education Scotland, SQA and PSR and Post School Education and Skills Reform officials. Further views have recently been received via email from Education Scotland which will be also be considered.

Following the baselining of the draft refreshed model, the next step will be to develop a full benefits profile and benefits realisation plan, which will include measurements and timelines. A wide range of evidence sources will be considered, both new and existing, qualitative and quantitative. Assurance is being sought from analytical colleagues on measurement approaches.

Members expressed a wish to make further comments on the model and it was agreed to receive further comments by correspondence.

Action: Programme Board members to provide further views by correspondence by 6 September.

Project Steering and Assurance Group update

The Project Steering and Assurance Group last met on 1 August, reviewed progress across all projects and had a helpful discussion around business cases. All projects are now fully operational, and while some red RAG statuses remain, a plan is in place for addressing these, resulting in increased confidence in delivery. In addition, a new assurance project is looking at the work of curriculum and qualifications reform.

Project Initiation Documents (PIDs) for the thematic projects have now been baselined, and PIDs for the BIPs are due to be finalised soon. This will allow the further development of the overall programme plan.

A finance project lead is now in post, driving this work forwards and making connections with various finance teams across the programme. It is hoped that this work will enable the RAG status of the Finance thematic project to be changed from red to amber by the next Programme Board, whilst recognising that the wider financial constraints remain a risk and will be continue to be managed.

The HMIE Body Implementation Project is also at red status, primarily linked to future phase delivery dates for corporate service needs. The team are working through the activities required to agree these dates linking closely with the Operational and Corporate Services and the Digital Pathfinder thematic projects. A workshop to take this forward was scheduled for later in the week.

Concern was expressed that this project was at red RAG status, and a request was made for a conversation with the Programme Director in order to discuss what needs to be done to get the project back on track.

Action: Programme Director to connect with Inspectorate member to discuss HMIE project in more detail.

Members raised a point regarding granular detail in the information provided with the Programme Board papers. It was clarified that the Below the Line Paper 2– Overview of Project Initiation Documentation, provides more detail around all the project outputs. It was also clarified that the role and purpose of the Project Steering and Assurance Group is to review delivery from all perspectives and provide advice to the Programme SRO. It is not intended that every project will be considered in detail at every Programme Board, but to focus on areas where input and challenge from members is required. However further consideration will be given to the balance of information provided in programme papers.

Centre for Teaching Excellence Update

SS delivered a presentation on the latest position with the Centre for Teaching Excellence.

Members noted that the non-teacher ELC workforce are not included in the remit of the Centre for Teaching Excellence and the importance of support for this workforce. The Chair noted the support that ES already provide in this area and that this will continue. Consideration of how this can be enhanced will be a part of how ES refocuses.

A key concern was expressed around the tapering of funding to RICs on the expectation that the Centre would be functional quickly. It was confirmed that the Cabinet Secretary’s intention is for the Centre to be established as quickly as practicable.

The planned budget for the Centre for 2025/2026 is £4m, subject to standard approvals within current SG financial controls.

Programme risk

The Board received a presentation on Programme Risk. Controls in place, planned actions, risk scores and target resolutions dates were set out within the PB papers.

Seven risks have been assured and updated in conjunction with the Project Steering and Assurance Group and the Risk and Dependency Management Group.

Two new risks have been created to replace the general Finance risk. These are titled “Programme Delivery Budget” and “Sustainability of National Organisations”. Splitting these risks ensures focus can be given to each area separately, and that they can be scored, treated and escalated independently.

Board members indicated that they were content that all possible planned actions that could be taken are listed. Recognition was made of the management approach across the Scottish Government regarding the new financial controls and an interest was expressed in hearing information about next steps once these are understood. The chair acknowledged that finance risks will need to be considered in line with the financial controls, which are covered by existing planned actions.

Members also indicated that it would be helpful for the Board to be sighted on funding available in order to gain a clearer understanding of how it is being distributed.

Action: The topic of Finance to be tabled for a future Programme Board meeting once decisions on funding have been made.

Concern was expressed regarding the controls in place for the People Resourcing risk – these refer to framework documentation and a strategic guidance note to SQA, confirming that the approach to reform activity should be in BAU. While keen to ensure that the team engage in reform activity, there is a worry about the capacity and workload of existing staff, which was noted.

Any other business

The Chair thanked the Board for their contributions and closed the meeting. The next meeting will take place on 10 October 2024.