Executive warned on teaching deal

11 May 06
A £2.15bn ground-breaking agreement has brought benefits to the teaching profession in Scotland, a public sector watchdog has found. But a lack of performance measures makes it difficult to assess the wider impact of the investment.

12 May 2006

A £2.15bn ground-breaking agreement has brought benefits to the teaching profession in Scotland, a public sector watchdog has found. But a lack of performance measures makes it difficult to assess the wider impact of the investment.

In a joint report published this week, the Accounts Commission and auditor general Bob Black also criticised the Scottish Executive for failing to monitor the expenditure closely.

'It is difficult to assess the extent to which value for money has been achieved from the additional spending, because clear outcome measures defining what the agreement was intended to achieve were not included and have not yet been put in place by the Scottish Executive,' the commission stated.

The report assessed the impact of what is known as the McCrone agreement. This resulted in a tripartite deal being struck between the Executive, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and teacher organisations in January 2001.

The agreement, 'A teaching profession for the twenty-first century', resulted in a 23% pay deal for teachers. It was designed to revitalise the profession, make it a more attractive career option and address recruitment difficulties.

The commission and Black said the deal had brought a number of benefits, including the creation of stable industrial relations between employers and unions, improved terms and conditions for classroom teachers (with more professional development and less time spent on non-teaching tasks) and improved induction and support arrangements for new teachers.

In some areas, however, the commission found the results of the agreement to be 'mixed'. It said a reduction in class contact time was working well for classroom staff but had contributed to an increased workload for some head teachers.

Black said performance management arrangements needed to be strengthened to demonstrate that the agreement had delivered value for money and was improving education.

He added: 'The agreement is strong in detailing what needs to be done and by when, but it is less clear about how the cost and impact of the changes introduced should be assessed.'

Take-up of a chartered teacher scheme, designed to transform the career structure for classroom teachers, had been slow, but looked likely to increase over time. The costs associated with the increased uptake would be significant, the report warned.

The commission and auditor general pointed out that the Executive relied on proxy measures to monitor delivery of the agreement. This approach meant that the Executive was not well placed to monitor the £2.15bn expenditure in areas where only limited proxy data was available or where the other bodies involved provided only a weak link with expenditure or cost.

The report recommended that the Executive and other parties to the agreement identify and report on a set of comprehensive performance measures.

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