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I think that some of the appointments are time limited. I will bring in Clare on those points.

We will take that away, convener.

I will bring in Clare Hicks to talk about the Ethical Standards Commissioner’s role in the process. Important decisions need to be taken about how we advertise and how the process is conducted. There are risks inherent in our not adhering to the ethical appointments process.

Potentially, but I must be very careful, convener, because of the rules on ONS classification in relation to direct support. I do not think that it would be appropriate for me to say any more until we have received the advice from the SFC.

Good morning, and thank you for inviting me to discuss the draft Public Appointments and Public Bodies etc (Scotland) Act 2003 (Treatment of Qualifications Scotland as Specified Authority) Order 2025.

If the order is approved, it will allow ministers to make early appointments to the board of qualifications Scotland, which is an essential step in ensuring that the new qualifications body has a fully functioning board in time for its establishment in autumn this year and delivery of the 2026 exam diet.

I take the opportunity to put on record my thanks to Fiona Robertson for her leadership of the Scottish Qualifications Authority and for her many years of service to education. The SQA has now put in place interim arrangements to ensure continued delivery, and preparations for a full, fair and open process to appoint the SQA chief executive are well under way.

Back in November last year, as the chair of the SQA mentioned in her recent evidence to the committee, changes were made to the SQA’s board to ensure that it would be better able to support the establishment of qualifications Scotland. At that time, five appointments were made, including the appointment of members with experience of teaching in schools and colleges. Those appointments are already supporting the establishment of qualifications Scotland and—which is important—the work to support the organisation to transform how it engages and operates across the education and skills system.

Subject to the agreement of the Parliament, the Education (Scotland) Bill will ensure that the SQA chair is able to transfer to become the chair of qualifications Scotland. It will also enable a number of members of the SQA board to transfer. Those arrangements are critical in providing a smooth transition to the new body and supporting the implementation of the new membership model, as required by the Education (Scotland) Bill.

The revised model for board membership and new governance and accountability mechanisms will provide a more robust platform for delivery, which will ensure that the organisation’s decisions are more directly shaped by the views and experiences of teachers, college practitioners and pupils alike.

To build on the measures that are set out in the bill, the Scottish Government has also provided funding to the SQA for secondment of a secondary school headteacher, who will act as an adviser to the organisation and lead a new dedicated schools unit. That senior role will support the organisation to ensure that it is able to rebuild trust and confidence with Scotland’s teachers. I am pleased to say that the SQA will announce the successful candidate early next week.

As we move towards the establishment of qualifications Scotland, it is crucial that our qualifications body is able, now and in the future, to demonstrate leadership that inspires trust, confidence and transparency.

In order to begin the process of appointing new board members, I commend the order to the committee. I am happy to answer questions.

I might defer to Clare Hicks, but my understanding is that there would be a substantial delay to the appointment process if that were to happen. I am happy to bring my officials in on that.

Nico, do you want to come in on the first point?

We see that even when extrapolating poverty.

I would also like to write to you to give you more certainty in relation to timescales, public advertising of the recruitment process and how that will be aligned with the timescales that are associated with stages 2 and 3 of the Education (Scotland) Bill. I want to do that to reassure the committee that the Government will listen—we will have to listen—to any decisions that might affect the order.

The Government does a lot of work to track the on-going destinations of young people when they leave school. There is also a participation measure—we will come on to that—which captures those in S4 to S6, so it includes those who are in school and the initial leavers’ destinations. There is also data on young people six months on from leaving school. We track that data, and Skills Development Scotland is involved in tracking it across the piece.

For me, the concerning thing is that there has been a slight widening of the gap in relation to positive destinations this year. We have seen that gap widen to 4.3 percentage points, which is an increase on the previous year’s gap of 3.7 percentage points. There has been a slight increase, but it is still the second-narrowest gap on record, which speaks to the totality of the situation—albeit over a long time trajectory; I accept Mr Rennie’s point that it dates back to 2009-10. Nonetheless, that tells us a story of improvement.

The initial destinations themselves are wide and varied. To go back to Mr Mason’s question, part of the answer is that the pathways that are now on offer to young people in school are wider and more varied than when the Scottish attainment challenge was introduced. There is now such a range of different pathways for children and young people to pursue, and the initial destination statistics capture some of that with regard to the next steps.