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Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 2 April 2025
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Displaying 2155 contributions

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Education, Children and Young People Committee

Violence in Schools

Meeting date: 14 June 2023

Stephen Kerr

That is a little bit extreme.

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Violence in Schools

Meeting date: 14 June 2023

Stephen Kerr

Good.

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Violence in Schools

Meeting date: 14 June 2023

Stephen Kerr

Fair enough.

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Violence in Schools

Meeting date: 14 June 2023

Stephen Kerr

That is not how the teachers feel.

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Violence in Schools

Meeting date: 14 June 2023

Stephen Kerr

Consequences?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Violence in Schools

Meeting date: 14 June 2023

Stephen Kerr

A whole bunch of stuff was raised in the opening comments, so it is tempting to go in 100 different directions to follow up the things that have been said. There are things that are easy to agree with because they are lovely principles, and then there is the reality. Here, we have the meeting of two things—nice words and lovely ideas, and then the reality of what many teachers are telling us is their daily experience in some of Scotland’s schools and classrooms.

I think that Carrie Lindsay hit the nail on the head. We do not actually know exactly what is happening in our classrooms, because there is such variation in reporting. We need at least to agree that there needs to be a common standard across Scotland for situations that arise in classrooms or schools to end up being reportable. At the moment, we are reduced to using anecdotal evidence in a lot of these discussions. I have certainly been told by quite a few teachers that they are positively discouraged from reporting some of the things that happen in their classrooms. They are told not to make a fuss about them even though, in some cases, people have been off work or even hospitalised.

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Subordinate legislation

Meeting date: 7 June 2023

Stephen Kerr

I have not asked my question yet.

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Subordinate legislation

Meeting date: 7 June 2023

Stephen Kerr

Are you saying that, in the scenario that I suggested, that individual, who has an address in Scotland and has been here for a few months, would not qualify?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Subordinate legislation

Meeting date: 7 June 2023

Stephen Kerr

I completely agree with Willie Rennie. The minister gave categorical assurances, but we will have to monitor the situation as it develops, because there are issues that might come back to us in due course.

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Subordinate legislation

Meeting date: 7 June 2023

Stephen Kerr

You said that you are “confident just now”. I know that that is probably legal speak for not setting anything in concrete.

I have concerns about how this will be interpreted because of the terminology of “ordinarily resident”. For example, the Scottish Parliament information centre’s briefing for today’s meeting says:

“The Scottish Government expects someone who is ordinarily resident in Scotland to have made their home in Scotland with the intention of staying and living here”.

I feel that that is a huge open barn door. How will we test expectations and intentions? For example, someone could move here at Easter, do a job through spring and into summer—a summer job, basically—apply to go to a Scottish university, have an address in Scotland, be able to produce the necessary documentation to prove that they are resident there and then make an application. That is correct, is it not?