Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

The Committee had before it the minute of its previous meeting of 25 November 2025 for approval.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the minute as a correct record.

The Committee had before it the committee business planner, as prepared by the Chief Officer – Governance.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to note the reason outlined in the planner for the delay to item 12 (Children's Services Plan Annual Update); and

(ii)       to otherwise note the planner.

The Committee had before it a report by the Executive Director - Corporate Services and the Executive Director - Families and Communities, which presented (a) the status of key quarterly performance and service standard measures (and recent national publications) relating to the Education and Lifelong Learning and Children’s Social Work and Family Support Clusters; (b) a progress update in respect of the Council’s National Improvement Framework Plan; and (c) early reflections against the national release of 2024/25 Curriculum for Excellence outcomes in December 2025.

During questions on the report, Dr Murray made a transparency statement as she had a son with additional support needs, however she did not consider that this amounted to an interest which would require her to leave the meeting for the item.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee note the report and provide comments and observations on the information contained in the report appendices.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to agree to instruct the Chief Officer – Education and Lifelong Learning in consultation with the Chief Officer – Data Insights to provide further information on reasons for variation in P1 literacy and numeracy performance in 2024/25 along with proposals to address the identified performance challenge, as part of the regular performance report, to the April Education and Children’s Services Committee; and

(ii)       to otherwise note the report.

The Committee had before it a report by the Executive Director – Families and Communities which detailed the outcome of inspection reports published by His Majesty’s Inspectors of Education (HMIe) and The Care Inspectorate since the last meeting of the Committee.?? The report also contained an update on progress towards inspection recommendations at Northfield and Harlaw Academies.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      note the content of this report; ?and

(b)      instruct the Chief Officer - Education and Lifelong Learning to continue to support Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) settings and schools to implement continuous improvement in keeping with agreed Quality Improvement Frameworks.?

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to note that officers had undertaken to provide information to Members outwith the meeting on any lessons learned from the parental engagement work undertaken at Harlaw Academy;

(ii)       to note that officers would feed back the comments made around the figures on page 73 of the report (that 43% to 68% was an increase of 58%, rather than 25%);

(iii)      to further note the comments around consistency of the percentage figures used in the report (for example, numbers of pupils within S4 against numbers of pupils presented) and that officers would take this on board for future reports to Committee; and

(iv)      to approve the recommendations.

With reference to article 7 of the minute of its meeting of 24 January 2023, the Committee had before it a report by the Executive Director – Families and Communities which provided an update on the operations of the concession agreements at Cummings Park and Tillydrone Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) / Nursery settings run by Flexible Childcare Services Scotland (FCSS).

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      note the contents of the report and instruct officers to report back to Committee at the end of the next Concession Contract period; and

(b)      agree to extend the concession agreements with Flexible Childcare Scotland Services (FCSS) for another 4 years based on the positive evaluations and their ability to offer a choice of flexible services in areas where there were a limited number of funded providers operating.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to request that officers include testimonies where possible in future reports to Committee;

(ii)       to approve the recommendations.

With reference to article 2 of the minute of the meeting of the Communities, Housing and Public Protection Committee of 26 August 2025, article 6 of the minute of the Education and Children’s Services Committee of 25 November 2025, and the meeting of Council of 4 February 2026, the Committee had before it a report by the Executive Director Families and Communities which (a) outlined the approach taken to managing incidents with offensive weapons in schools; (b) provided an analysis of both Council and Police Scotland data; (c) updated Members on learning from generic incident data held; (d) provided an overview of how the Education Service was working with partners to reduce the number of incidents in schools; and (e) shared learning from changes made at school level regarding mobile phone use.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      note the refreshed Anti-Weapon / Knife Crime guidance and acknowledge that the work done by schools, central officers and partners resulted in robust multiagency responses to incidents;

(b)      note that there were strong systems in place which were informing effective preventative strategies;

(c)      note that the data showed incidents were clearly linked to developmental delays and wellbeing needs;

(d)      note that the number of incidents was in line with comparable local authorities; and

(e)      instruct the Chief Officer – Education and Lifelong Learning to consider the learning from this report when updating school Lockdown Guidance.

The Committee was addressed by Councillor Boulton, in terms of Standing Order 16.1.

The Convener, seconded by the Vice Convener, moved:-

That the Committee:-

(a)      approve the recommendations in the report;

(b)      note that the impacts of a general mobile phone ban were inconclusive and instruct the Chief Officer – Education and Lifelong Learning to continue to monitor and evaluate mobile phone use in school settings;

(c)      welcome the ongoing constructive cooperation with Unions on delivering the agreed Behaviour Plan, including delivery of preventative professional learning and recognise the importance of sustaining partnership working with Unions especially in responding to survey findings that recorded the views of teachers and other staff;

(d)      note that the Behaviour Plan was linked to the report at item 10.3 on the Early Intervention Support Space - The Bridge Service, which kept children's rights at the centre of our work and contributed to the goal of inclusion in education settings, and agree that future expansion of similar models, based on lessons learned from the Bridge, should be progressed for secondary stage pupils, subject to Committee approval of the recommendations in item 10.3 (Early Intervention Support Space – The Bridge Service);

(e)      note the conclusions at Section 3.60 of the report, in particular that evidence demonstrated that many incidents being reported were a result of the young person's developmental, transition, hunger and intimate care needs and agree to instruct the Chief Officer – Education and Lifelong Learning to incorporate this information in planning and delivering action through the Behaviour Plan; and

(f)       instruct the Chief Officer – Education and Lifelong Learning  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

With reference to article 11 of the minute of its meeting of 29 April 2025, the Committee had before it a report by the Executive Director Families and Communities which  provided an update on early progress in implementing an Early Intervention Service Test of Change at Riverbank School for younger primary school pupils from August 2025.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      note progress made in establishing The Early Intervention Support Service, The Bridge Service, and interim learning informing next steps; and

(b)      instruct the Chief Officer - Education and Lifelong Learning to scope a Secondary Early Intervention Support Service and present an operational model to Committee for approval before the end of the calendar year.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to note that officers would circulate information to Members outwith the meeting on the Diamond 9 exercise which had been carried out;

(ii)       to approve the recommendations; and

(iii)      to instruct the Chief Officer - Education and Lifelong Learning to report annually to Committee to monitor the continued progress of pupils who had returned to home school settings.

The Committee had before it a report by the Executive Director – Families and Communities which sought approval for the Chief Officer - Education and Lifelong Learning to apply to the Scottish Government for an additional closure day to mark Scotland’s participation in the Men’s football World Cup finals, subject to the decision due to be taken at a special meeting of the Staff Governance Committee to be held on 23 February 2026.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee delegate authority to the Chief Officer - Education and Lifelong Learning to make a formal request to Scottish Government for an additional closure day on 15 June 2026, subject to a decision by Staff Governance Committee of an additional public holiday for staff.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendation.

-     COUNCILLOR MARTIN GREIG, Convener