Two key bills pass final Holyrood stage

Two more Scottish Government bills are now awaiting royal assent after receiving their final approval in the Scottish Parliament last week.

The Education (Scotland) Bill and the Carers (Scotland) Bill were both agreed after the stage 3 debate without a vote, though opposition members expressed concerns about whether local authorities were being allowed sufficient funding to allow them to be properly implemented.

Under the Education Bill, local authorities and ministers will be required to prioritise activity aimed at closing the attainment gap between children from poorer and those from better off families. A National Improvement Framework will improve the information available, through a new standardised assessment of reading, writing and numeracy, to enable pupils to be given necessary support.

The legislation also contains measures to:

• extend the rights of children aged 12 and over with capacity under the Additional Support for Learning Act 2004;
• promote Gaelic education by placing a duty on councils to support the language, in particular following a parental request;
• require all teaching staff in independent and grant aided schools to be registered with the General Teaching Council for Scotland;
• improve the statutory process for dealing with complaints about councils failing in their education duties;
• regulate for every primary school pupil to benefit from a minimum of 25 hours with teachers per week; and
• ensure consistency in clothing grant provision across Scotland.

The Carers Bill is designed to provide better support for the many thousands of people, including children and young people, who care for a family member within their own home. Carers will, for the first time, have the right to request or be offered an assessment of their need for support through an adult carer support plan or young carer statement.

Local authorities and health boards will jointly be required to prepare and publish local carer strategies setting out their plans for identifying carers, assessing demand for support and containing information about the particular needs and circumstances of young carers, and each local authority area will be required to have its own information and advice service, including on emergency and future care planning.

Carers will be involved in decisions about their own support and the care they provide. When plans are being made for discharge from hospital, carers will have the right to be informed and have their views taken into account.

Click to access the final parliamentary debates on the Education (Scotland) Bill and the Carers (Scotland) Bill.