When it will announce its conclusion on the review of the school provisions of the Schools (Scotland) Code.

The Schools (Scotland) Code 1956 has been a feature of Scottish Education for over 40 years. Little of the original code remains and over the years its provisions have been amended, repealed and replaced. In more recent years the code has not kept up with changes and improvements in Scottish education. The Scottish Executive has consulted on the future of the school provisions of the code and has concluded that they should be phased out.We remain totally committed to professional standards and to continuous improvement in the education our children receive. We are also committed to ensuring that the necessary safeguards are in place to ensure the quality of that education. That commitment will be underpinned by statutory provisions where necessary. At the start of the consultation exercise on the Schools (Scotland) Code we gave a commitment that registration with the General Teching Council would remain a requirement to work as a teacher in education authority schools. We will bring forward separate regulations that will maintain the position. We have also concluded that there is a continuing need for those teachers who work wholly or mainly with children with special educational needs to have specialist qualifications. Separate modernised regulations will be introduced.In other areas, the safeguards provided by the code have been replaced by the introduction of improved standards using different approaches. For example, in the case of class sizes the code provisions have been replaced by improved standards negotiated through changes to teachers' conditions of service. Other developments such as the School Improvement Framework should give sufficient assurance that education will continue to be provided in an appropriate manner by suitable teachers in all of Scotland's schools. It has already been announced in Regulation of Early Education and Childcare: The Way Ahead in May 2000 that the pre-school provisions of the code will be repealed. Separate regulations repealing these provisions will now be laid.We will, of course, keep these developments under regular review. The code, however, is no longer up to the challenges and needs of a 21st century education service. We therefore intend to phase it out in two stages. The first stage will begin immediately and the second stage will take place in 2004, when the School Improvement Framework is fully bedded in.