EDUCATION COMMITTEE CALLS FOR EVIDENCE ON THE SCOTTISH SCHOOLS (PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT) BILL

CED005/2005 | 6 October 2005

The Scottish Parliament’s Education Committee is calling for evidence from all interested parties on the general principles of the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Bill, which was introduced on 28 September 2005.

The purpose of the Bill is to provide for parental involvement in school education. It places a duty on Scottish Ministers and education authorities to promote parents’ involvement in schools.

The Bill repeals the School Boards (Scotland) Act and enables the establishment of parent forums and parent councils. The changes to the Bill from the draft bill on which the Scottish Executive consulted are listed in the Bill’s accompanying Policy Memorandum.

Respondents are invited to set out:

• whether they approve or disapprove of the general principles of the Bill;
• the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed system of parental involvement as opposed to the current system;
• whether they consider that the Scottish Executive consulted effectively on the Bill before it was introduced to the Parliament;
• any concerns they may have about particular elements of the Bill and suggestions as to how the Bill might be improved; and
• whether there are any specific issues that are not adequately addressed in the Bill.

The Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Bill is published as SP Bill 45 and is available from the Scottish Parliament website at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/bills/index.htm along with the Bill’s Policy Memorandum, Explanatory Notes and Financial Memorandum.

All written evidence received may be published by the Parliament and will be treated as a public document unless indicated otherwise. All written responses will be circulated to members of the Education Committee.

Written evidence should be submitted by Friday 18 November. There will be no extension to this deadline except by application in writing to the convener of the Committee.

NOTES

Since evidence submitted may be published, we would prefer responses to be sent by e-mail to education.committee@scottish.parliament.uk with the subject line of Parental Involvement Bill.

If you have a computer, but no email, you can post your response to us on a 3½" disk, preferably in Word. If you cannot use email or a disk, your submission must be typed. Ideally submissions should not exceed four sides of A4 paper. All responses become the property of the Scottish Parliament and we are unable to return documents.

Hard copy submissions should be sent to:

Paul Howell
Education CommitteeRoom T3.40
Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh
EH99 1SP

For information on the legislative process, you may wish to consult the Guidance on Public Bills which is also available from http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/bills/billguidance/gpb-c.htm.

The contact for members of the media is:

Richard Holligan Tel: 0131 348 5605

RNID TypeTalk calls welcome

E-mail: richard.holligan@scottish.parliament.uk

Education Committee contact information

For public information enquiries, contact: 0131 348 5000 or 0845 278 1999 (local call rate)
Text phone: 0131 348 3415 RNID Typetalk calls welcome
email: sp.info@scottish.parliament.uk

Visit our website at: www.scottish.parliament.uk