Education, Children and Young People Committee 03 December 2025 [Draft]
With the convener’s permission, I will continue from where I finished.
Bill Kidd’s amendment rightly identifies employers, colleges and universities, training providers and trade unions representing the interests of apprentices as having a strong interest in the work of the apprenticeship committee. I agree with him, and I would welcome strong representation on the committee from those groups.
In the same vein, I am happy to support Miles Briggs’s amendment 188, which would effectively expand the scope of desirability considerations by the council to include people who represent the interests of businesses in relevant industries. His amendment 189 covers similar ground to that covered by amendment 188, so I hope that he might see that it is now not needed.
Amendment 187, also in the name of Miles Briggs, seeks to require the SFC to consult persons who appear to represent the interests of businesses in relevant industries when appointing members of the apprenticeship committee. The emphasis on consultation is helpful and I support the amendment, although I may wish to tidy up the framing at stage 3, should Miles Briggs be agreeable to that.
Amendment 182, also in the name of Miles Briggs, is not strictly needed, because the apprenticeship committee can consult and collaborate under the same duties and powers as the SFC, where appropriate. However, the amendment seeks to emphasise the importance of the views of local authorities in shaping apprenticeship delivery, which I agree with, and I am therefore happy to support it.
Lorna Slater’s amendment 191, as spoken to by Ross Greer, would change ministers’ power to give the SFC guidance on the operation of the apprenticeship committee into a duty to do so. It is absolutely our intention to issue such guidance to the SFC, so I am happy to support the amendment.
I hope that amending the bill in the way proposed in amendment 191 will give comfort in respect of members’ concerns about who should be a member of the apprenticeship committee, because ministers will issue guidance on the issue. For example, the Scottish ministers could specify that more than half the members have to be employers or employer representative organisations, and could insist on there being representation of other groups.
A number of amendments in the group aim to specify that particular types of people should be members of the apprenticeship committee. Pam Duncan-Glancy’s amendment 183 seeks to require at least one member from a body that represents the interests of small and micro businesses, and at least one member who is an employer in a sector in which a majority of the businesses that are engaged in that sector are micro businesses. Miles Briggs’s amendment 184 seeks to require that one or more members must represent the interests of businesses in relevant industries. Pam Duncan-Glancy’s amendment 185 seeks to require that one member must be a Scottish apprentice or work-based learner, and one must be a college student. Monica Lennon’s amendment 186 would require at least one member who is a trade and industry representative.
Those are all reasonable suggestions, but it might not be helpful to set such requirements out rigidly on the face of primary legislation in the way that those members envisage.
Ahead of stage 3, I would like to consider whether we need to say anything more in the bill about the types of member of the apprenticeship committee beyond what is in Bill Kidd’s amendment 18. In doing so, I will take on board all the types of representatives that members have sought to include through their respective amendments.
Daniel Johnson’s amendment 181, which Pam Duncan-Glancy moved, would remove the apprenticeship committee from the bill and substitute it with provision for an industry skills board. The apprenticeship committee is capable of delivering the requirements that are set out in Daniel Johnson’s amendment 181. I prefer the approach that is set out in the bill, so I cannot support amendment 181 and I urge members of the committee to reject it.
Willie Rennie’s amendment 37 seeks to ensure that the chair of the apprenticeship committee is an employer or represents the views and interests of employers. I share his concern that the apprenticeship committee must reflect and consider the needs of employers, but I think that there is a better way of achieving the same aim. It is important that the apprenticeship committee is chaired by a member of the SFC, but amendment 37 would remove that requirement. The apprenticeship committee should be chaired by a member of the SFC for reasons of effective governance and to make sure that the committee has a powerful voice on the SFC board. However, the chair of the committee must have the right skills and experience, which means ensuring that there are members of the council who have the skills and experience that Willie Rennie has set out and can, therefore, be asked to chair the committee effectively.
The SFC will make further appointments in 2026, and the Scottish Government will ensure that the skills and experience that Willie Rennie is looking for are acquired through that process. That is the most appropriate way forward.
I would be happy to discuss all of that with Willie Rennie ahead of stage 3, together with the discussion that I have undertaken to have about his amendment 24, which falls into the same wider area of consideration.
As Miles Briggs set out on his behalf, Stephen Kerr’s amendment 190 would require the apprenticeship committee to have at least 20 members, and the majority of the members to be employer or industry representatives. There is a balance to be struck around the size of this or any committee. If there are too few members, it will not have sufficient variety of skills, experience and views, and if there are too many, it will be costly and hard to manage, even with regard to simple things such as finding mutually convenient dates for meetings. It would therefore be unhelpful for the bill to set a specific number of members when we have not accumulated any experience of the way in which the committee will operate.
The SFC needs to engage stakeholders, including employers and workforce representatives, on the design of the committee and whether it should have subcommittees to support it. It would be premature to set the size or composition of the committee in primary legislation, as amendment 190 envisages. Therefore, I cannot support the amendment.
Stephen Kerr’s amendment 192 seeks to require the apprenticeship committee to report to the Scottish Parliament on how employer views have informed its decisions and recommendations. Scottish ministers will give the SFC guidance on the committee’s functions, and that guidance can set out what, if anything, the apprenticeship committee needs to publish and when. Reports from the apprenticeship committee will be best dealt with administratively, especially given the SFC’s statutory duty to provide an annual report that includes the work of its committees. In terms of governance, it would be inappropriate for a committee of the SFC to report directly to the Scottish Parliament, given that the SFC’s role is to report to Scottish ministers, the Parliament and publicly. Therefore, I cannot support amendment 192.
It is not fully clear what Pam Duncan-Glancy’s amendment 193 seeks to achieve, although I appreciated what she said about it earlier. It appears to be about ensuring that learners have the support that they need to be a member of the council. That could be financial support, but council members are remunerated and can claim expenses. It is not obvious that learners would need something additional, beyond what the SFC would be required to provide in making reasonable adjustments to support a member with a protected characteristic. I do not consider that amendment 193 is necessary, but I undertake to ensure that we communicate to the SFC our expectations for support for council members, including in relation to aspects such as training.
The bill forms part of our work to simplify the funding body landscape so that it is more efficient and achieves better outcomes. I fully support the need for regional skills planning and an appropriate response to that in terms of provision. However, I cannot support Stephen Kerr’s amendment 194, as it would result in a plethora of regional skills boards with associated costs. It is unclear how those boards would interact with the apprenticeship and skills committees, with which they are more likely to come into conflict given their overlapping roles.
The amendment would also give a specific function to the SFC that currently sits with SDS, so I cannot support amendment 194.
13:15In summary, I ask members to vote for Bill Kidd’s amendment 18, Miles Briggs’s amendments 182, 187 and 188, and Lorna Slater’s amendment 191.
In light of my commitment to look again at the issues raised in their amendments, I ask Pam Duncan-Glancy not to move amendments 183 or 185, Miles Briggs not to move amendment 184, and members not to move amendment 186 on Monica Lennon’s behalf. If they do, I encourage members to vote against the amendments that I have listed.
I hope that Pam Duncan-Glancy, on behalf of Daniel Johnson, will not press amendment 181; if she does, I encourage members to vote against it. I hope that my undertaking on board appointments will persuade Willie Rennie not to move amendment 37; if he does, I encourage members to vote against it.
I ask Miles Briggs not to move amendments 190, 192 and 194 on behalf of Stephen Kerr; if he does, I encourage members to vote against the amendments. Finally, I hope that I have assured Pam Duncan-Glancy that I share the aims behind her amendment 193 and that she will now not move that amendment. If she does, I encourage members to vote against it.