Draft Education (Scotland) Act 2025 (Consequential Provisions and Modifications) Order 2025

Kirsty McNeill Excerpts

Tuesday 25th November 2025 General Committees

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Kirsty McNeill)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Education (Scotland) Act 2025 (Consequential Provisions and Modifications) Order 2025.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Hobhouse. I am grateful for the opportunity to debate this order today. Like all the Scotland Act orders we have considered since the start of this Parliament, this is a result of collaborative working between the UK and Scottish Governments. The order before us will be made under section 104 of the Scotland Act 1998 which, following an Act of the Scottish Parliament, provides the power for consequential provisions to be made to the law relating to reserved matters, or to the laws elsewhere in the UK.

Scotland Act orders are a demonstration of devolution in action, and I am pleased to say that the Scotland Office has taken through 10 orders in the past 12 months. This order makes provisions in consequence of the Education (Scotland) Act, which received Royal Assent earlier this year. That Act of the Scottish Parliament provides for the establishment of a new qualifications body, Qualifications Scotland, to replace the existing Scottish Qualifications Authority. It also creates the office of His Majesty’s chief inspector of education in Scotland, removing the inspection function from Education Scotland, which is an Executive agency of the Scottish Government.

The UK Government have worked collaboratively with the Scottish Government on the draft order, which is needed to commence some of the provisions of the Act. The order is necessary to ensure that the functions currently exercised by the SQA can be fully transferred to the new body being set up, Qualifications Scotland. This will enable Qualifications Scotland to deliver all the services and products that are currently delivered by the SQA, maintaining the same functional and geographic scope.

The order also makes a number of consequential amendments in reserved areas and to UK, Welsh and Northern Ireland regulations to reflect replacement of the SQA with Qualifications Scotland. These are needed so that existing provisions across numerous regulations can continue to operate in the way they do now. Finally, the draft order is also needed to designate the newly created office of His Majesty’s chief inspector of education in Scotland as a non-ministerial office holder in the Scottish Administration for the purposes of the Scotland Act 1998. That change is needed to ensure that the person appointed to this role is a civil servant, which is required to support the delivery model for the inspectorate that is being set up by the Education (Scotland) Act.

The order changes the law in a very limited way and only so far as is necessary to give full effect to the provisions of the education Act of the Scottish Parliament. While the order’s provisions extend to the whole of the UK, its practical effect is limited to Scotland. Without the order, there is a risk of disrupting the education system in Scotland and the hard work of teachers and young people across Scotland. It is an example of devolution in action—the UK Government working with the Scottish Government to deliver for the people of Scotland.

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[Kirsty McNeill]

I thank the hon. Member for his contribution. While he might not be surprised to discover that I disagree with his assessment of the Conservative educational legacy south of the border, we can all agree as Scots that it is absolutely appalling that a full 42% of Scottish young people today are leaving Scottish education without a single higher or equivalent qualification to their name. For an education system that was once the envy of the world, that is a burning national shame.

This instrument demonstrates the UK Government’s continued commitment to work with the Scottish Government to deliver for Scotland. I therefore commend the draft order to the Committee.

Question put and agreed to.