This week Scottish politics was dominated by the news that Scotland’s schools have recorded their worst ever performance in the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) figures.
The international survey of pupils classed Scotland as ‘average’ in each of the three categories – maths, reading, and science – leading to opposition claims of a ‘decade of educational failure’ under the SNP government.
The Cabinet Secretary for Education, John Swinney, admitted that ‘radical reform’ was needed to enable Scotland’s schools to compete with the world’s best. Responding to a question from Ruth Davidson at FMQs on Thursday, Nicola Sturgeon subsequently reiterated her support for the Curriculum for Excellence and pledged to ‘take the action that will lead to improvement’ across Scotland’s schools.
Meanwhile, Scotland’s Lord Advocate, James Wolffe QC, was making the case for the Scottish Parliament to be consulted on the UK’s exit from the EU at the Supreme Court hearing on Brexit this week.
The Supreme Court’s consideration of the legal challenge as to whether the UK Government must seek the UK Parliament’s authorisation before triggering Article 50 led to Nicola Sturgeon’s government making the case that Holyrood should also have a formal say in procedures.
The UK Government continues to oppose any legal role for the Scottish Parliament, with the Advocate General for Scotland, Lord Keen, stating earlier that the Scottish Government's argument was "fatally undermined" by the fact that foreign affairs are reserved to Westminster, and that triggering Article 50 would not alter the ‘essential structure’ of devolution.
Closer to home, the Scottish Government has raised concerns about the decision-making process which led to the UK Government’s decision to close half of Glasgow’s job centres, stating that it was ‘completely unacceptable’ that Scottish Ministers were not consulted. Scotland’s Employability Minister, Jamie Hepburn, has asked the Department of Work and Pensions to ‘explain its plans’ and whether there will be further closures.
It was another bad week for Transport Minister Humza Yousaf after he was caught by police driving without the proper insurance. While Mr Yousaf has said that this was a result of an ‘honest mistake’ caused by an error in the transition of his insurance policy, and opposition parties have not sought to make political capital from the situation, it is another embarrassing incident for a Minister already under pressure for his handling of the ScotRail franchise. Some political commentators have begun to speculate how long the once ‘rising star’ of Scottish politics will last in post should 2017 begin in the same fashion as 2016 is ending for Mr Yousaf.
This week in Holyrood there were Scottish Government debates on: Support for Scotland’s Renewables; Sea Fisheries and End Year Negotiations; and Creating a Fairer Scotland, Our Disability Delivery Plan, while FMQs included questions on the Pisa results, Scottish victims of the ongoing football abuse allegations, and President-elect Donald Trump’s views on climate change.
Finally, Holyrood united this week in tribute to Alex Johnstone, the Conservative MSP for North East Scotland, who died at the age of 55. Mr Johnstone, the longest serving Conservative MSP, was described as ‘as a big man with a big heart’ by Ruth Davidson, and as an ‘asset to his party and to the Scottish Parliament’ by the First Minister. His untimely death will be mourned across the political spectrum, with Labour’s Kezia Dugdale describing his legacy as ‘one of goodwill in our politics’.