Hansard

A fortnight ago, we announced progress on our plans to reform the post-school education and skills system. We announced that the Scottish Funding Council would assume responsibility for all apprenticeships, and that the Student Awards Agency Scotland would take on responsibility for further education student support. Therefore, one body, the SFC, will be responsible for funding provision for teaching, training and related activities, while another body, SAAS, will be responsible for student support. That decision was informed by what stakeholders told us through our public consultation.

Our approach is designed to put the learner at the centre. It aims to ensure that our whole education and skills system works as a single system that is easy to navigate and in which everyone takes responsibility to deliver excellence for all.

Reform is, of course, about more than the individual parts of the system; it is about the whole system working together. Yesterday, the Tertiary Education and Training (Funding and Governance) Bill was introduced in the Scottish Parliament. First and foremost, the bill will consolidate the SFC’s responsibilities for securing the provision of national training programmes, apprenticeships and work-based learning. The bill will establish, for the first time, a statutory framework for apprenticeships in Scotland, recognising the value that we place on apprenticeships and on the delivery of the First Minister’s mission to drive economic growth. It will also give ministers the power to commission the SFC to deliver new national training programmes and will mean that we can address training needs that might not otherwise be met, making it easier to ensure that programmes are aligned to the Government’s four priorities.

Furthermore, the bill will improve the SFC’s governance and how it oversees tertiary education, including by creating a greater focus on the needs and interests of learners. It will also knit together the SFC’s existing responsibilities and its new responsibilities for apprenticeships and work-based learning in a coherent way, which we hope employers will welcome.

Today is a significant milestone for tertiary education and training. The bill will enable us to move from three funding bodies to two. In our programme for government, we said that we would

“Reform the education and skills funding system so it is easier to navigate and responsive to learners and skills priorities—breaking down silos and reducing bureaucracy”.

The bill moves us closer to that.

The other half of funding body simplification is the movement of further education student support from the SFC to SAAS. That change does not require legislation, which means that we can progress at pace, and we are doing so. I make it clear that there will be no immediate change to funding arrangements for college or university students, but bringing student support responsibilities together will unlock opportunities. The change will enable new ways of administering student support, collecting data and providing coherent information and guidance to learners and institutions.

Before I go on, I thank our three public bodies—the SFC, SAAS and Skills Development Scotland—and their staff for their help in getting us to this point. I am also grateful for the input from colleges, universities, employers, training providers and others whose insights have absolutely informed our decisions.

I know that change can be unsettling. If the bill is passed, the SFC will need to evolve to encompass its expanded remit. Responsibilities for apprenticeships and national training programmes will move from SDS to the SFC. The work that SDS has done on apprenticeships has given us firm foundations on which to build, and the skills and experience of SDS staff will be invaluable in establishing the new arrangements and shaping an improved offering. A refocused SDS will continue to play a vital role in skills planning, careers advice and support for employers.

It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the influence on our reforms of James Withers and his review, and I thank him once again for his important work.

I want to be clear about why we are doing this. First and foremost, we want to deliver the best service that we can for learners and employers. Secondly, we want to make things simpler for colleges, universities, training providers and employers. Last but not least, we have to get maximum value from every pound that we invest.

The bill makes provision for Scottish apprenticeships and work-based learning, laying the foundations for apprenticeship reform. We can take the best of what works now and change what does not. The bill will enable improvement but leave room to develop future apprenticeship policy with stakeholders.

Employer engagement is critical to all of this work, so we are building a dedicated employer network to guide it. We will sharpen the focus of the apprenticeship approvals group and the standards and frameworks group to ensure that they play a vital role in the transition process, and we will broaden employer participation at every stage across the reform landscape. The bill also includes provision for a new apprenticeship committee of the SFC and provision for apprenticeship certificates to help apprentices to demonstrate that they have gained the relevant training, experience and qualifications.

That leads me on to qualifications reform. We must have up-to-date, accessible qualifications that are fit for learners at all stages of their lives. Work is under way to fully understand the qualifications landscape in tertiary education. The qualifications must be valued by employers and learners, they must clearly signal the skills and knowledge that individuals have acquired and, crucially, they must be flexible enough to adapt to the ever-changing demands of the modern economy.

Tertiary education and training must deliver the skills that employers need and, importantly, meet our skills requirements in 21st century Scotland so that we can address net zero, support our national health service and grow a thriving Scottish economy. I have engaged extensively with ministerial colleagues across the Government and with our key stakeholders to develop our approach to skills planning, which is rooted in evidence of what works and what is needed. Tertiary education and training must be responsive to both regional and national skills needs.

A few weeks ago, I met the regional economic partnership network again, and we had a good discussion about skills planning across regions. We still have work to do, but I am pleased with the progress that we are making and the co-design approach that we are taking.

High-quality careers advice is essential to getting the right people into the right jobs, tackling poverty and growing the economy. It is vital to have that advice in schools in order to help young people to realise their potential.

We will shortly be announcing new arrangements for the career services collaborative. The outgoing interim chair Grahame Smith, the secretariat and all members of the collaborative have achieved much since its formation. Their work forms a great base for progressing to the next phase, which is, importantly, focusing on improving careers advice and support.

I have spent a good deal of time meeting stakeholders, especially employers and training providers that are engaged in apprenticeship delivery, and listening to their views as we developed our thinking. I have also engaged with a number of MSP colleagues along the way, and I am grateful for that engagement. With the bill beginning its formal processes today, I am committing to ramping up that engagement over the coming months to ensure that, if the Parliament supports the bill, we will be ready to implement the outcomes in a way that best serves the interests of our future apprentices and employers and the needs of Scotland’s economy.

Lastly, I want to work with members from all parties in the Scottish Parliament to lay the foundations for lasting reform of the kind that I think that we generally recognise is needed.