Education Secretary John Swinney survives no-confidence vote

Education Secretary John Swinney has survived a no-confidence vote at Holyrood over the college outcomes row.

The Conservatives, Labour and the Lib Dems referred to as for his resignation after 1000’s of trainer estimates of grades had been initially marked down.

However Mr Swinney’s U-turn on the difficulty was sufficient for the Scottish Greens to again the SNP within the vote.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon mentioned Mr Swinney was “one of the crucial respectable and devoted folks in Scottish politics”.

The movement, tabled by Labour, was defeated by 67 votes to 58.

• How did Swinney survive the college outcomes row?

This 12 months’s grades had been primarily based on trainer assessments as a result of exams had been cancelled as a result of coronavirus pandemic.

When the outcomes had been revealed final week 125,000 of these estimates had been downgraded by the Scottish {Qualifications} Authority, which mentioned it wished to make sure the outcomes had been comparable with earlier years.

However there have been claims this technique unfairly penalised pupils at colleges which had traditionally not carried out so effectively.

On Tuesday, after an outcry and protests by college students, Mr Swinney apologised and mentioned he would direct the SQA to reissue grades “primarily based solely on trainer or lecturer judgement”.

Main the controversy at Holyrood, Scottish Labour chief Richard Leonard mentioned Mr Swinney “solely jumped to motion when his personal job was on the road”.

He mentioned the schooling secretary had presided over a collection of failures, and that that the “fiasco” over examination outcomes “should be his final”.

Scottish Conservative group chief Ruth Davidson mentioned there had been “repeated warnings” in regards to the exams moderation challenge, saying Mr Swinney “may see the automotive crash coming and did not act”.

She mentioned management “means taking final accountability for failings in your temporary”, including: “This failure is so nice it calls for a resignation”.

‘Error of judgement’

And Scottish Lib Dem chief Willie Rennie mentioned the schooling secretary had made a “large error of judgement” and had “undermined” his division, saying: “John Swinney is aware of in his quieter moments that he ought to go.”

Opposition events wanted the votes of the Greens to cross the movement, however the get together had already mentioned they’d not help it.

MSP Ross Greer mentioned he had warned for months in regards to the “basically damaged nature of the evaluation system”, saying “it ought to by no means, ever have been put into operation” – however mentioned amongst opposition events “solely the Greens had been really curious about really fixing the issue”.

Ms Sturgeon, defending Mr Swinney, mentioned he was “in all probability essentially the most honourable particular person I’ve recognized in my life”.

She mentioned that when the schooling secretary received one thing unsuitable “he has the humility to say so” – and that he had fastened the issue whereas there was “no complete resolution in England” to an analogous row over A-level outcomes.

The Greens (who’ve an affinity with the SNP over independence) demanded a excessive worth for his or her help – a dramatic and full u-turn on examination outcomes from the Scottish authorities.

Mr Swinney acceded to all their calls for by cancelling 125,000 downgrades, permitting upgraded college students to maintain their awards, ordering an unbiased assessment into the debacle and promising a wider take a look at the easiest way to evaluate pupil efficiency.

That quantities to essentially the most spectacular change of coverage by any minister, in any Scottish administration, within the quick historical past of devolution since 1999.

All through all of this, Mr Swinney has retained the boldness and help of the primary minister, Nicola Sturgeon, who depends on him closely.

As her chosen deputy in authorities, he’s an in depth and trusted ally and one among her most skilled ministers. Not somebody she would wish to lose or may simply substitute.

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