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I have nothing to declare.

Jackie, I know that that was moving into your area of questioning. Do you want to add anything?

A few members have still to come in, but, first, Ms Barrie, I think you wanted to respond, then perhaps Professor Hayward could comment briefly.

Bill Kidd is next.

Before I bring in Pam Duncan-Glancy, do any of the other witnesses want to say anything about the Scottish Government’s response to the review?

Was it always your understanding that there would be the initial response from the Government and then another response a few months later? A lot of what we are discussing today will depend on what the cabinet secretary eventually says in December. Could some of that not have been said in the initial response a couple of months ago?

The Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland was quite critical of the initial Scottish Government response. Do you think that that was fair? The commissioner said that there was a failure to mention set timelines or the resources to be allocated and that the cabinet secretary’s statement showed a lack of commitment. Would you agree with her?

You talked about the next statement from the cabinet secretary. Did you expect more from the initial response? A couple of times in your opening statement, you mentioned the things that keep you awake at night. Are you still being kept awake at night because you do not believe that the Government has responded as fully or as quickly as it should have to your report?

Thank you for your duties, Evelyn, and good morning to everyone.

I echo what Evelyn said about Liam Kerr’s contribution and sterling work as a committee member. Sue Webber has been an excellent convener for the past two and a half years and I look forward to continuing the good work that she did during that period with current and previous members.

Today’s main item of business is an evidence session on the reform of the senior phase. The report on the independent review of qualifications and assessment was published in June 2023 and the committee heard evidence from Professor Louise Hayward, the chair of the review group, and her colleagues in September last year. Following the publication last month of the Scottish Government’s response to that report, we have invited Professor Hayward and members of the independent review group to return for a further update.

I warmly welcome Professor Louise Hayward, professor of education assessment and innovation at the University of Glasgow and chair of the independent review of qualifications and assessment; Dr Douglas Hutchison, executive director of education services at Glasgow City Council, who led the review’s local government group; Peter Bain, an executive headteacher and the president of School Leaders Scotland, who led the school leaders group; and Shona Barrie, director of admissions and access at the University of Stirling, who was a member of the university group.

I invite Professor Hayward to make an opening statement before we move to members’ questions.

Just before we go to Willie Rennie, George Adam wants to come in briefly.