Qualifications Body Transition Board minutes - April 2024

Attendees and apologies

Attendees:

• Shirley Rogers SQA Board Chair - Transition Board Co-Chair (SR)
• Clare Hicks, Scottish Government (SG), Director of Education Reform - Transition Board Co-Chair (CH)
• Kirsty Ayed, School Leaders Scotland (KA)
• Liz Cunningham, SQA Unison Representative (LC)
• Laurence Findlay, ADES, Aberdeenshire Council (LF)
• Seán Hagney, SQA Board member (SH)
• Andy Harvey, EIS (AH)
• Erin McCabe, SQA Unite Representative (EM)
• Stuart McKenna, Scottish Training Federation (SM)
• Fiona Robertson, SQA Chief Executive (FR)
• Ken Thomson SQA Board member (KT)

In attendance:

• Mike Baxter, SQA Director of Finance & Corporate Strategy (MB)
• Lisa Bird, SG, Programme Director (LB)
• Steve Borley, SQA Head of Chief Executive’s Office (SB)
• Fiona Dalziel, Scottish Secondary Teachers Association (FD)
• Sarah Hart, SG, Head of Delivery (SaH)
• Dawnne Mahmoud, SQA, Director of People (DM)
• Julie McDonald, School Leaders Scotland (JM)
• Liz McGrath, SQA, Programme Director, Education Reform (LM)
• Jaxon Parish, SG, Senior Policy Officer (JP)
• Kieran Watson, SG, Unit Head (KW)

Secretariat:

• Karen Ferguson, SQA (KF)
• Pauline Hendry, SG (PH)
• Anna Kerr, SQA (AK)
• Niamh McGhee, SG (NM)

Apologies:

• Euan Duncan, SSTA
• Claire Macpherson, Universities Scotland
• Isabel Nisbet, Independent Adviser
• Jon Reid, SLS/ADES, Falkirk Council

Items and actions

Opening remarks

Welcome and apologies

The Co-Chairs welcomed everyone to the meeting and asked everyone to introduce themselves.

Declaration of conflicts of interest

There were no declarations of conflicts of interest. This item will remain on the agenda to address any emerging conflicts.

Scene setting

SR set the scene for the Transition Board. There has been lots of work on education reform over the past few years, and SQA has an opportunity to transform the organisation into a new qualifications body. This will take a lot of work in a relatively prescribed timescale to ensure that the new organisation is able to take on the requirements and obligations to the workforce, learners and teachers as seamlessly as possible. This is an opportunity to influence and be influenced by aspirations for reform, and the Transition Board are keen to hear contributions from the members on the group.

SQA have been developing a corporate plan, which will be discussed over the course of the upcoming Transition Board meetings.

CH noted her agreement with this position. The Transition Board is an important space in which to reflect upon transition and future transformation in the context of education and skills reform.

Education and Skills Reform: Governance arrangements and role of Transition Board

CH set out the context of education and skills reform. The presentation slides will be shared alongside these minutes.

The slides provide an oversight of the agenda of education and skills reform. Further detailed documentation will be established as work progresses.

Members expressed that the feel of the Transition Board is already different to the previous Delivery Board – it was noted that there appear to be three main themes, namely the practical details of transition, the wider reform context within the programme, and transformation.

Frequency of meetings was noted, and it was agreed that while these are currently monthly, it is not known what will emerge. The themes referred to above will remain on the agenda and will form the basis for every meeting.

LM noted that she is working through the mission and deliverables of the transition plan which would be discussed later in the meeting.

Terms of reference

SR outlined that the Terms of Reference (ToR) for this Board are bespoke and advised that a lot of work had gone into them to ensure that all the various component parts are represented. The ToR has been designed specifically for an organisation that needs to transform, whilst the environment it works in is also transforming.

The ToR is not yet a finalised document and members are encouraged to provide their comments, questions and thoughts over the course of the coming weeks. The document will be revisited at the next Transition Board for sign off. A formal review of the ToR will be scheduled every six months, although they can be revisited earlier if a member considers this necessary.

Members were also encouraged to suggest agenda items for future Transition Board meetings. Occasionally the agenda may allow for different meeting formats, such as workshops.

Budget and resourcing were raised as areas of concern to members, particularly around a lack of resource to be able to outsource SQA personnel to undertake the necessary work associated with the new qualifications body. Having a greater understanding of the totality of the ask, and the lead in times will be helpful in prioritising spend and resource decisions.

Specific gaps were noted in relation to staff communications and engagement, and on the role of employers in addition to the focus on practitioners, learners and teachers.

Members wish to ensure a clear line of sight on the role of the Transition Board. The current ToR lists a number of bullet point items under scope which appear to cross with role of the SQA Board (namely bullets 3, 5, 6 and 7). SR confirmed that she would take the points about scope under consideration to ensure clarity on the roles of each Board.

Members were assured that their invitation to this Board is not merely an idea gathering exercise, and that their expertise and constructive challenge is needed and expected. The new qualifications body must be different, it is not just a case of changing the name of the body.

Action: Members to submit comments on ToR to Secretariat by email in advance of the next meeting.

It was noted that the ToR is only one component of describing the Transition Board. The framework document will reflect respective responsibilities, and strategic guidance letters issued will set out the Scottish Government’s expectations of what SQA needs to deliver.

Workstreams

Three themed bundles of work were outlined earlier in the meeting:

• transition planning for the new body
• Education Reform and the wider context of that
• transformation and going beyond the technical work of creating a new body

The agenda for these meetings will revisit these three items each time and unpack the work that relates to them. There was no disagreement to this planned way of shaping future agendas.

Update on transition planning

LM set out the context of transition planning. The presentation slides will be shared alongside these minutes.

A transition plan has been developed to ensure that all necessary contractual, legal, digital and people capabilities are in place for the new body. It incorporates four main themes – Brand and Identity; Organisational Infrastructure; Digital Infrastructure; and Stakeholder Management. Over 900 activities are spread across twelve projects, starting from April 2024.

Reform and transition to a new body needs to be seen in the wider context of SQA and its totality. The interaction between reform versus ‘business as usual’ work needs to be considered to ensure the ability to continue to deliver the functions of the body, while facilitating reform.

Concern was expressed about a lack of resource to complete the work, noting that transition is only a part of the work that needs to be carried out in a small amount of time. It was acknowledged that it is not possible to carry out reform at the pace required without resource, and that reform may need reshaped to fit the resource available.

CH clarified that resourcing across the sector is very challenging, and there is a need to be clear with Scottish Ministers about what transition entails, while ensuring best value for money. There is scope to look forward positively, while also acknowledging challenges ahead.

Forward meeting schedule

Members were asked to diarise the meetings listed in the forward meeting schedule included with the papers for this meeting.

It was anticipated that the location for each meeting would alternate between SQA's Lowden office and Scottish Government buildings, dependant on availability. It was confirmed that the meetings will be hybrid, and the Co-Chairs confirmed they were content for members to join remotely. There may be occasions where physical presence would be beneficial, for example if a workshop was to be held.

Any other business

The Co-Chairs expressed their thanks to members for their attendance and input.

Date of next meeting

The date of the next meeting is Tuesday 4 June 2024.