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Remit and Approach
4. Through working with a range of key stakeholders, the role was to
- facilitate discussion and identify issues around the formation of a national body to represent, support and advise Parent Councils
- meet with key groups, gather views and bring key stakeholders together to discuss possible ways forward for a national body
- report to Ministers setting out the views of stakeholders, summarising key issues and making recommendations for next steps.
5. In undertaking the task, facilitation was initially focused on assisting stakeholders to identify and develop areas of consensus on such matters as role, capacity, membership, governance, independence, and financing. Options were then considered for a process to develop a national body for parents, capable of combining the expertise within the existing two national bodies and new interest from Parent Councils.
6. While many different stakeholders have a legitimate interest in the representation and support of parents at national level, at the core of this facilitation process lay the basic premise that it is ultimately for parents to decide what type of body they require.
7. All consultees are listed at Appendix One and are thanked for their generous assistance to date. Most work was undertaken with the current two national bodies, the Scottish Parent Teacher Council ( SPTC) and the Scottish School Board Association ( SSBA)*. A postal questionnaire survey of school boards was carried out jointly with SSBA. With assistance from SPTC, a very similar survey of PTAs in their membership was also undertaken. A summary of key findings from the 276 respondents appears in Appendix Three. (*It is recognised that, at the time of writing, SSBA had just changed their memorandum and articles of association to become the Scottish Parent Councils Association. However, in this report, they will continue to be referred to as SSBA because it is the relevant name at the time views were being gathered from stakeholders.)
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