Workings and recommendations of International Council of Education Advisers (ICEA): FOI release

Information requested

 

Further to my FOI request 18/00753 it would be appreciated if you would provide an update on activity since April 18.

1. Has the Panel had further meetings?

2. Were there any further recommendations?

3. Were any recommendations implemented?

4. What improvement in Education performance was noticed?

5. Is the panel still in session?

6. What additional costs to the Taxpayer has been incurred?

 

Response

 

Has the Panel had further meetings?

The International Council of Education Advisers (ICEA) has met on three occasions since your last request. The meetings were held, on 26/27 April 2018, 19/20 September 2018 and on 6/7 February 2019.

Were there any further recommendations? / Were any recommendations implemented?

The initial recommendations from the ICEA, published in July 2017, were taken into account in the development of the Scottish Government’s education reform programme. The ICEA published its first report in June 2018 which contained a number of formal recommendations. These recommendations were used to inform the development of the 2019 National Improvement Framework (NIF) and Improvement Plan. The report, and the Scottish Government’s response to the recommendations are published on the Scottish Government website at:
https://www.gov.scot/publications/international-council-education-advisers-report-2016-18/
https://www.gov.scot/publications/international-council-of-education-advisers-report-2016-2018-government-response/
Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you.

What improvement in Education performance was noticed?

The 2019 NIF and Improvement Plan, together with the new National Improvement Framework Interactive Evidence Report, sets out the key evidence on improvement, and the new improvement activity that will be undertaken across the Scottish education system. The 2019 NIF and Improvement
Plan is available on the Scottish Government website at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/2019-
national-improvement-framework-improvement-plan/pages/1/
and the NIF Interactive Evidence Report is available online and can be accessed via this link: https://public.tableau.com/profile/sg.eas.learninganalysis#!/vizhome/NIFInteractiveEvidenceReport/FrontPage?:linktarget=_parent

Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. 

Is the Panel still in session?

I can confirm that the ICEA is still in session. The first term of appointment ended on 31 July 2018 and the second term commenced on 1 August 2018 for a further two years.

What additional costs to the Taxpayer has been incurred?

Costs associated with all meetings of the ICEA are published on the Scottish Government website at:
https://www.gov.scot/groups/international-council-of-education-advisers/. This is currently being updated and all costs to date will be available to view shortly. As this information is intended for future publication we do not have to provide this. An exemption under section 27(1) of FOISA applies.

 

ANNEX 1

Section 25(1) – information otherwise accessible
An exemption under section 25(1) of FOISA applies to some of the information requested. It exempts information from disclosure where the requester can reasonably obtain the information without making a request for it. 

Section 27(1) – information intended for future publication
An exemption under section 27(1) of FOISA applies to some of the information requested because we intend to publish that information prior to 19 May 2019, which is within 12 weeks of the date of your request. We consider that it is reasonable to withhold the information until that date, rather than release some of this routinely published information before the planned publication date.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. We recognise that there is some public interest in release, and this will be met by our planned publication. In the meantime, there is a greater public interest in taking the time necessary to ensure the information has been properly collated and checked before it is published as planned. Also, we see no public interest in disrupting our programme of work to release the information ahead of the intended publication date.

 

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.