Hansard

I am sorry, but I do not have time. I apologise—I have five minutes.

Withers found that there is confusion and duplication in our public body landscape but, even if our current system was perfect, the world around us is changing and we cannot afford to stand still. Since June, my officials have been working on the priorities that are set out in “Purpose and Principles” to establish the appropriate governance and approach to implementing change. Alongside that, I have engaged widely in gathering views and developing my understanding of the challenges that organisations face, and how those are impacting on their staff and, ultimately, the learners.

Those conversations have helped me to be clearer on the steps that are needed to bring about improvement and on the prioritisation of those steps. That process will continue as we narrow in on the potential routes to reform. The programme for government already commits us to updating Parliament on our plans for reform of the public body landscape and our response to Withers, but I have been engaging directly with Opposition parliamentarians. For example, I have met Liam Kerr and Willie Rennie to hear their views and, next week, I will meet Daniel Johnson. I hope that those interactions demonstrate my commitment to the widest possible engagement and to trying to find the consensus that Daniel Johnson referred to.

On net zero, it is clear that a step change is needed in our workforce if we are to deliver on our ambitions and meet our emissions reduction targets. That is one of the key reasons why we accept the recommendation that skills planning should move to the Scottish Government so that there is greater coherence and impetus behind that objective. We need to ensure that every part of our education and skills system can match people with the available opportunities and that we can put in place the relevant pathways. We are doing what we can in the area. The Government has already committed £500 million over 10 years to our just transition fund, including more than £10 million for skills-related interventions. It has been deeply disappointing that the United Kingdom Government has not matched that investment.

I have heard loud and clear the concerns that James Withers expressed about funding, which have been echoed by others, recognising the complexity and the fact that the multiple streams are confusing and inefficient. That is why, as part of the programme for government, we have committed to leading the development of new funding models to simplify the funding landscape and ensure that we get maximum return on our investment. That will be all the more important, given that we find ourselves in the most challenging financial situation since devolution.

To be clear, neither Withers nor “Purpose and Principles” was commissioned because of budgetary pressure or to respond to public sector reform, but that is the context that we are now in. The Labour motion does not mention the join-up with wider education reform, but it is crucial to see the reviews as part of a package of reform and, therefore, it is right that they are considered and presented to Parliament in that manner. We need a simpler and more efficient system that is more easily understood by learners and users and which equips young people to make the right choices for themselves and to make the fullest possible contribution to our society and economy.

The reforms that are being taken forward and the steps that we are taking to implement them will move us closer to that ambition. We will continue to move forward in close collaboration with colleges, universities, trade unions, industry and other stakeholders. I add to that list the staff in the potentially impacted agencies. Not only is it the right thing to do to engage with them, as I have done, but it has already fed into our thinking on the provision of a national careers service and how we help to make apprenticeships more accessible to small and medium-sized enterprises.

I move amendment S6M-10922.2, to leave out from “particularly” to end and insert:

“which it accepts set out a clear case for change; agrees that the skills landscape must fit the needs of the people of Scotland to ensure that everyone can fulfil their potential; understands that the Scottish Government will set out a full response to the independent review in the wider context of reform of the education and skills system, as set out in the Programme for Government 2023-24; agrees that it is right that the Scottish Government engages fully with stakeholders before setting out its full response, including education institutions, industry and trade unions; recognises that the Scottish Government’s ambitions for a just transition will be supported by the delivery of the Green Industrial Strategy; acknowledges that funding is being provided to support up to 25,500 new Modern Apprenticeship starts in 2023-24; welcomes the many areas of success in the skills landscape at present, such as the proportion of school leavers in a positive destination nine months after the end of the school year standing at its highest level since comparable data was first gathered; recognises that effective utilisation of the skills system will be vital in ensuring that Scotland has the workforce skills to meet its ambitious net zero targets and the wider needs of the future economy; welcomes the Scottish Government’s £500 million Just Transition Fund and the £75 million allocated in the Fund’s first two years, which includes £11.2 million on a package of skills-focused interventions; acknowledges that this is a 10-year fund, and that the Scottish Government is acting to support workers now, and in the future, with the skills needed to deliver Scotland's just transition towards net zero; expresses deep disappointment that the UK Government has repeatedly refused to match the Scottish Government’s Just Transition Fund, and calls, therefore, on all parties in the Scottish Parliament to work to secure a matching commitment from the UK Government.”