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Scottish Government submission of 2 November 2021

PE1875/C - Public Inquiry into the Scottish Qualifications Authority

We thank the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee for seeking clarification from the Scottish Government, in light of petition PE1875, on whether the Scottish public inquiry into the response to COVID-19 will include an assessment of matters related to the awarding of educational qualifications during the academic years 2019-20 and 2020-21, including the actions of the Scottish Qualifications Authority.

Scottish Ministers will establish, under the Inquiries Act 2005, an independent public inquiry into the handling of the Coronavirus pandemic in Scotland with the purpose of scrutinising decisions taken in the course of this pandemic so far, and learning lessons for future pandemics. Scottish Ministers expect the public inquiry to take a person-centred, human rights-based approach. Decisions about the scope of this Scottish public inquiry are yet to be taken. This includes matters raised in this petition.

Public engagement about a draft COVID-19 Scottish public inquiry aims and principles paper took place between 24 August and end of September. This engagement focused on the design of the inquiry, including scope. As part of it, a public inquiry mailbox was set up where views could be shared. An online Dialogue challenge - similar to that carried out to seek views on the Covid roadmap – was undertaken to further support stakeholder engagement. Ministers and officials also held meetings with a number of stakeholders to seek their views.

Feedback received will help inform the terms of reference to be agreed between Ministers and the chair, once they have been appointed. Discussions are underway with the Lord President to identify a candidate to chair the Scottish public inquiry, in line with our previous commitment to having it led by a judge.