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Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills submission of 1 November 2021

PE1870/H - Ensure teachers of autistic pupils are appropriately qualified

Following on from my letter of 27 October 2021, about petition PE1870, I am writing to inform the Committee of the publication, earlier today, of the joint Scottish Government and Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) updated Additional Support for Learning Action Plan and progress report. These are available on the Scottish Government’s website:

https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781802015829 - Updated Action Plan

https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781802015812 - Progress Report

As the Committee may be aware, in October 2020, following publication of Angela Morgan’s independently chaired review of implementation of additional support for learning, the Scottish Government and COSLA published a joint action plan. Within this, we committed to reporting to Scottish Ministers and COSLA on progress made within the first year, by October 2021.

Despite the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Scottish Government and COSLA have continued to work collaboratively with partners over the past 12 months to progress the actions we set out within the Additional Support for Learning action plan in October 2020.

The Scottish Government and COSLA remain firmly committed to delivery of the ASL Action Plan. While the progress we have made in the last year is significant, we recognise that there is much more to do. Over the coming months, we will work closely with our partners in the Additional Support for Learning Implementation Group to review the current action plan, take stock of what has been achieved despite the challenging circumstances, and agree the priorities for the future to ensure that meaningful change is realised for children and young people. An updated action plan will be published in Spring 2022.