Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills

The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, commonly referred to as the Education Secretary, is a position in the Scottish Government Cabinet responsible for all levels of education in Scotland.

The Cabinet Secretary is supported by the Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science and the Minister for Childcare and Early Years which are both junior ministerial posts.

The current Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills is John Swinney, who was appointed in May 2016.

Overview

Responsibilities

The responsibilities of the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills include:

Government Strategy, Delivery and outcomes across portfolios, Resilience, School standards, Educational attainment and closing the attainment gap, National Improvement Framework, Quality and improvement, Teaching profession, School infrastructure and staffing, Qualifications, Behaviour, Measures to combat bullying, The Gaelic and Scots languages, Modern languages, Historical Abuse Inquiry, Named person, Cross Government co-ordination of Public Service Reform, Childcare implementation, Early years, Child protection, Social services workforce, Adoption and Fostering, Children’s rights, Looked after children, Children’s hearings, Protection of vulnerable groups, Children’s services, Widening Access, Higher education and universities, Further education and colleges, Student funding, Science and STEM, Youth work, Skills Development Scotland, Implementation of Wood recommendations.

Public bodies

The following public bodies report to the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning:

• Bòrd na Gàidhlig
• Care Inspectorate
• Children's Hearings Scotland
• Education Scotland
• Scottish Children's Reporter Administration
• Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council
• Scottish Qualifications Authority
• Scottish Social Services Council
• Student Awards Agency for Scotland

History

The position was created in 1999 as the Minister for Children and Education; it was renamed as the Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs in 2000 and given more responsibilities; those were taken away from the post in 2001 and it was renamed again as the Minister for Education and Young People. The current position of Cabinet Secretary was created following the 2007 election.

List of Office holders

Minister for Children and Education
Name		Portrait	Entered Office	Left Office	Party	First Minister
	Sam Galbraith		16 May 1999	28 November 2001	Labour Party	Donald Dewar
Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs
	Jack McConnell	75px	28 November 2001	22 November 2002	Labour Party	Henry McLeish
Minister for Education and Young People
	Cathy Jamieson		22 November 2002	20 May 2003	Labour Party	Jack McConnell
	Peter Peacock	75px	20 May 2003	14 November 2006	Labour Party
	Hugh Henry	75px	14 November 2006	16 May 2007	Labour Party
Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning
	Fiona Hyslop	75px	16 May 2007	1 December 2009	Scottish National Party	Alex Salmond
	Michael Russell	75px	1 December 2009	21 November 2014	Scottish National Party
	Angela Constance	75px	21 November 2014	18 May 2016	Scottish National Party	Nicola Sturgeon
Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills
	John Swinney	75px	18 May 2016	Incumbent	Scottish National Party	Nicola Sturgeon