1. To ask the Scottish Government when it last met COSLA to discuss pay awards in schools. (S6O-02632)

I am advised that the Minister for Local Government Empowerment and Planning met COSLA on 24 October. Local government pay was discussed at that meeting.

It is important that I reaffirm that the workers who are involved in this dispute are local government employees, not teachers, so it is not a specific education dispute and I am not directly involved in the negotiations. Negotiations on local government pay are, rightly, between COSLA, as the representative of the employer, local government and the trade unions that represent the workforce. Nevertheless, I have an agreement with COSLA that we will work together to ensure that any disruption to learning is avoided as far as possible in the event of further industrial action.

I will be meeting COSLA ahead of further planned industrial action next week; similarly, I met COSLA prior to the previous action.

The Cabinet secretary will know that, although the GMB and Unite the union voted in favour of the offer from COSLA, Unison staff overwhelmingly voted to reject it, and members are beginning a rolling programme of strikes in various regions, including Fife. Even the unions that accepted the offer have stated that the negotiating process fuelled “uncertainty and mistrust” and that the revised offer should have been put

“on the table months ago”.

I hear what the cabinet secretary says about her involvement in the discussions with COSLA, but I would like an update on what the Government is doing to try to resolve the current dispute. Something that is purely within her remit is workforce planning. Will she give an update on what work the Government is doing to ensure that there is proper workforce planning in schools?

I welcome the news that, as Claire Baker outlined, GMB and Unite the union members voted to accept the deal. Negotiations remain on-going in relation to the wider challenges with Unison. I am aware that council leaders are due to meet tomorrow in that regard.

As I outlined, my focus is on ensuring consistency in how our local authorities engage when industrial action happens in their area. I met COSLA regularly to discuss that point in the run-up to the previous action, and I was clear about the need for us to have a joint understanding of what that should look like. My expectation was that most schools should have remained open at that time, subject to a school-by-school risk assessment, which is the responsibility of local authorities. We had an agreed form of wording—I do not think that I need to read it out today, but I can share it with the member—which was shared with the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland. That was really important in ensuring consistency.

More broadly, I work regularly with COSLA on the challenge relating to workforce planning. I have asked the strategic board for teacher education to look more holistically at how we can plan better with regard to workforce planning. I look forward to engaging with COSLA on that point and on the issues relating to school closures when we next meet.

How does investment in school education in Scotland compare with that in other parts of the United Kingdom?

Independent research conducted by the Institute for Fiscal Studies found that, in 2022-23, school spending per pupil in Scotland was more than £8,500. That is more than 18 per cent, or £1,300, higher than the level in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, where spending was about £7,200 per pupil.

We have the highest spending per pupil, the lowest pupil to teacher ratio and the best-paid teachers in the UK—all of that in the face of more than a decade of austerity from the UK Government and further cuts. That is what we have been able to achieve with one hand tied behind our back. Imagine what we could have achieved with the full powers of independence.