Seòmar agus comataidhean

Cabinet secretary, you talked about the statistics that came out yesterday. One of the things that is particularly concerning is that the statistics seem to suggest that there are only 137 behaviour support staff in the whole country. That is the lowest number that there has been since 2019. I think that the statistics also show that 18 out of the 32 local authorities do not have any behaviour support staff. Does that concern you? What is going on and what can be done?

Thank you.

On that point—Willie Rennie has posed a really important question—the attendance statistics will obviously be a function of much more than the education system. I make the observation that there is a tendency to think or act very much in silos. You are quite right, cabinet secretary, that we need to get away from that. Therefore, that begs the question: what interaction have you had with other portfolios on things such as the attendance statistics, particularly in the light of the report that you mentioned from last year?

That is an interesting point. I take your point about the number of PSAs. However, in previous evidence sessions, a point was made to the committee about whether we are asking staff—in this case, PSAs—to become more generalist. It has been suggested that there is a move away from specialists to load more and more responsibility—indeed, specialist responsibility—on to other functions such as PSAs. Do the statistics suggest that that is what is happening? In your view, is that the right direction of travel?

My colleague asked a really good question there. In relation to the point about local authorities being the employer and their lack of funds and how the numbers are changing, what are the salaries of a behaviour support assistant and a pupil support assistant? I genuinely do not know off the top of my head.

Good morning. Over the past few weeks, the committee has heard powerful testimony and a lot of detail about some of the challenges that people face in this area. When you reviewed the records of those meetings in the Official Report, did anything specific jump out as particularly concerning, and was there anything that you intend to address in, say, the first 100 days after our report comes out?

On the specialisation that you talked about, what progress has been made in developing career progression and pathways for teachers who want to specialise in additional support for learning and on the accreditation for classroom assistants that you talked about?

Would you mind getting that information to us, to give us an idea of what the salaries are?

I cannot not ask Kerry Drinnan a similar question about Falkirk Council. Do you have any idea why independent adjudication was not mentioned by local authorities?

Good morning. I have two questions, which I will direct specifically to Chloe Minto. What is the availability of legal aid and specialist solicitors in the area? Last week, we heard that the cost of representation at things such as a tribunal is often prohibitive, and there was a suggestion that it can sometimes be a challenge to find skilled legal representation in the area.