Meeting of the Parliament 08 October 2025
It gives me great pleasure to follow Lorna Slater, who gave several very useful insights. This is a useful debate and—dare I say it—it stands in contrast to the previous motion that the Conservatives moved. It is not only that this debate is important but that the motion is based on the facts. The issue is too important for us to ignore the facts, which is why we did not lodge an amendment.
It is important that we let the facts speak for themselves, because a 20 per cent real-terms cut in funding is of concern, and it speaks to the direction of travel of the skills system, which is vital for us to achieve economic growth. That case was made strongly and in a matter-of-fact way by Murdo Fraser—in contrast to the presentation by the person who beat him to the Scottish Conservative leadership. One wonders what might have happened if history had been different.
That position also stands in contrast to the Government’s presentation. We cannot support the Government’s amendment because—I say this with some trepidation—it is misleading. First, the use of the figure of 39,000 individuals in training might make members think that there has been an increase in the number of people in apprenticeships, but we know that the numbers of starts and completions have never recovered to their pre-pandemic levels. The figure is also misleading in another way, because it is not the most up-to-date number. There has been a subsequent iteration of the statistics, and the current number is actually 37,215.
I say gently to Mr Macpherson—because I deeply respect him—that this is not a good start to his time in his role. I know that he is a serious-minded person. I believe him when he states what he wants to do in that job and the importance of skills. However, it is not treating Audit Scotland’s work with seriousness if its key findings are expunged, which is what the Government’s amendment would do, and nor is the subject treated seriously by using essentially misleading figures.
Let us be clear that the situation is serious and has been led to in part by the Government’s mismanaged and poorly handled college reform agenda. It is no good for the Government to say, “We work in partnership with colleges.” The Government brought colleges under its direct control, hobbled their financial flexibility and made it essentially impossible for them to deliver part-time courses. For the Government to stand to one side and wring its hands about the state of the college sector, when it brought the colleges under its direct control, is not credible.
We know that 30,000 fewer Scots are getting places in colleges and that some of the more flexible funding that was available through the flexible workforce development fund has been withdrawn. That is all fundamentally linked to a college funding regime that everyone knows—we can talk to anyone in the sector about it—is well past the point at which it needs reform. I know that this is getting a bit technical but, if we look at it in any detail, it is clear that the college credit system is no longer fit for purpose. If we were going to have a serious debate, we would be looking at those deficiencies.