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To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of its head count reduction programme on the delivery of the learning for sustainability action plan and the target 2030 commitments. (S7O-00466)
Official Report · Chamber
Learning for Sustainability
General Question Time
This is the draft Official Report. The final version may differ.
Speakers
Choose an MSP to read only their contributions- Laura Moodie Green 2
- Màiri McAllan SNP 2
The record
4 contributions
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Ministers are firmly committed to delivering the learning for sustainability action plan and making progress towards the target 2030 commitment. The Scottish Government and Education Scotland met the cross-agency learning for sustainability leadership group on 4 November, where they discussed key topics, including curriculum reform. We are also working closely with partners to progress the implementation of the new Schools (Residential Outdoor Education) (Scotland) Act 2026, which is an important part of learning for sustainability.
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Internal ministerial papers that were released following a freedom of information request linked changes to learning for sustainability staffing directly to the Scottish Government’s headcount reduction target. They also acknowledged that key areas of work would be paused as a result, such as engagement with young people and local authorities. Does the cabinet secretary believe that reducing capacity in the area is compatible with the Government’s stated ambitions on climate education? Did she know about the staffing reduction when answering my written question on learning for sustainability this summer? When does she expect those paused workstreams to resume?
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The Scottish Government regularly reviews staffing structures across all business areas. That is part of our responsible management of the delivery of work in our areas. Each area retains flexibility in deploying resources, in line with ministerial priorities and business needs.
I mentioned in my initial answer that a great deal of work was going on to implement the Schools (Residential Outdoor Education) (Scotland) Act 2026, which is a core part of delivering learning for sustainability. To give Ms Moodie further reassurance, I point her to the technical framework for Scotland’s reformed curriculum, the first full draft of which was published last week. I was pleased to see Learning for Sustainability Scotland commenting on social media that it sees the programme as a
“non-negotiable, cross-curricular policy commitment”
in that updated curriculum. That should give her some confidence.
Motions, questions and votes
Linked from this item of the Official ReportIn this meeting
Everything on 10 Nov 2026 →- 14:00 Time for Reflection Time for reflection · 2
- 14:05 Business Motion Business motions · 2
- 14:06 General Question Time Questions · 2
- 14:06 Flood Forecasting Questions · 8
- 14:06 General Practitioner Walk-in Service (Elgin) Questions · 6
- 14:06 Proposed Local Government Reform (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities) Questions · 8
- 14:06 Colleges (Investment in Infrastructure) Questions · 6
- 14:06 Palliative and End-of-Life Care (Glasgow) Questions · 4
- 14:06 Learning for Sustainability Questions · 4
- 14:06 Centre for Contemporary Arts Building (Actions of Creative Scotland) Questions · 4
- 14:06 Nicotine Addiction (Under-18s) Questions · 5
- 14:30 Back-bench Members First Minister’s Questions · 1
- 14:30 Cladding Remediation Programme First Minister’s Questions · 2
- 14:30 Public Service Reform (Worker and Trade Union Representation) First Minister’s Questions · 2
- 14:30 Tenant Protection (Lawrie Reilly Place) First Minister’s Questions · 2
- 14:30 Hyperscale Data Centres (Impact) First Minister’s Questions · 2
- 14:30 Postal Delivery Delays (Impact) First Minister’s Questions · 2
- 14:30 Social Security Scotland (Processing Delays) First Minister’s Questions · 2
- 14:30 Sexual Violence Against Women (Abuse of Power) First Minister’s Questions · 2
- 14:30 Care Inspectorate (Regulation of Childminders) First Minister’s Questions · 2
- 14:30 Earned Settlement Scheme First Minister’s Questions · 2
- 14:30 Universities (Promoting Scottish Culture) First Minister’s Questions · 2
- 14:30 Open Championship 2029 First Minister’s Questions · 2
- 14:30 Tackling Rural Crime (Police Station Closures) First Minister’s Questions · 2
- 14:30 Public Bodies (Reporting of Bullying) First Minister’s Questions · 2
- 14:30 Business Rates Relief First Minister’s Questions · 2
- 14:30 Forth Valley Emergency Care (Delays) First Minister’s Questions · 2
- 14:30 National Health Service Community Staff (Mileage Rates) First Minister’s Questions · 2
- 14:30 Non-domestic Rates (Devolution to Regions) First Minister’s Questions · 2
- 14:30 Community Asset Transfer (Support) First Minister’s Questions · 2
- 14:30 Places of Worship Fund First Minister’s Questions · 2
- 14:30 Accident and Emergency (NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde) First Minister’s Questions · 2
- 14:30 Dalzell Steel Plant First Minister’s Questions · 2
- 14:30 Stranraer East Pier (Regeneration) First Minister’s Questions · 3
- 15:07 Winter Resilience Statement · 32
- 15:41 HMP and YOI Polmont Statement · 32
- 16:16 BBC and Public Service Broadcasting Debate · 80
- 17:38 Decision Time Decision time · 31
- 17:51 Supporting Scotland’s Pubs Members’ business · 26
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