4. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle bullying in schools. (S6O-01855)

Bullying of any kind is unacceptable and must be addressed quickly and effectively. “Respect for All: The National Approach to Anti-Bullying for Scotland’s Children and Young People”, which is our national guidance on anti-bullying, supports that. We expect schools and local authorities to use the national approach to recording and monitoring bullying incidents. Local monitoring allows schools to identify patterns, intervene early and provide appropriate support.

We continue to fully fund respectme, Scotland’s anti-bullying service, to build confidence and capacity to address bullying effectively.

Education Scotland has completed a thematic inspection of the national approach. We will consider the findings and next steps carefully. We are committed to refreshing the national guidance on anti-bullying later this year.

The cabinet secretary is correct: bullying in Scottish schools is not acceptable. However, under the Scottish National Party Government, abuse of teachers in our schools has spiralled out of control, with almost 75,000 recorded attacks on school staff since 2017. In my constituency in the Borders, teacher and staff abuse in schools has increased by 355 per cent since 2017. Staff absences for mental health reasons have almost doubled. The correlation is clear. Can the cabinet secretary, having presided over such appalling levels of abuse, provide the Parliament with a plan to fix this problem, which the Government has created?

When we look at bullying, harassment or any violence and intimidation in our schools, whether that is towards pupils or staff, it is very important that we work together to find a solution.

The Scottish advisory group on relationships and behaviour in schools provides advice and guidance to ministers on improving relationships. That is where we work together with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, representatives from local authorities and professional associations to ensure that we provide evidenced advice and guidance in order to get that right.

I would be more than happy to meet Ms Hamilton if she has particular suggestions about what policies need to change, because I think that we all take this matter seriously. We are determined to keep it under review, as I said in my original answer. The group that I mentioned is the way that we can work together to do that, and I hope that we can work together across the chamber, too.

The cabinet secretary will have seen this morning’s

Herald exclusive that says that worried teachers have said that “toxic positivity” leads to bullying and fails pupils. A whistleblower who works in a secondary school in the east end of Glasgow comments on something called “pivotal behaviour method”, which is failing, in the words of this whistleblower,

“the 97 per cent of kids who are well behaved ... and doing well academically”.

Will the cabinet secretary investigate the failings that are identified in the whistleblower’s report?

I read the report in

The Herald this morning. I reiterate that any form of violence is unacceptable. I am not going to comment on specific cases. It is up to schools and local authorities, as the employers, to decide what action should be taken in schools. However, as I said in my original answer, there is a national group that works with COSLA to look at the matter, and we will continue to work with our local authority colleagues and the professional associations to ensure that, if there are changes to be made, we take those decisions together.