Education and Skills Committee

Meeting date: Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Official Report 651KB pdf

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Subordinate Legislation

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Assigned Colleges (University of the Highlands and Islands) Order 2018 [Draft]

Next we will consider a piece of subordinate legislation that is subject to the affirmative procedure. There will be two agenda items on the draft order. First, the committee will have an opportunity to ask the minister questions, and I welcome Richard Lochhead to the committee, along with his officials: James Boyce, head of the college policy team, and Gemma Grant, solicitor to the Scottish Government. The details of the draft order are included in paper 1.

I invite the minister to make an opening statement.

Good morning, convener and committee members. It is fine to be back again in a different capacity. I congratulate the new members of the committee who are at their first meeting today. I speak from experience when I say that it is a good committee.

I look forward to engaging with the committee in the weeks and months ahead in my new role as Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science. I will be delighted to return in the near future to discuss with the committee any of the big issues on the agenda. Today I am here to discuss a relatively technical issue, but I appreciate the opportunity to speak to the committee about the draft Assigned Colleges (University of the Highlands and Islands) Order 2018, which assigns Argyll College to the regional strategic body for the Highlands and Islands region—the University of the Highlands and Islands.

Argyll College, which is one of the smaller colleges in Scotland, provides tertiary education across 11 centres throughout Argyll and the islands, serving a population of approximately 88,000 people. In the Highlands and Islands region, eight colleges are already assigned to UHI. Argyll College was not assigned to it in 2014 as the college did not meet what are known as the fundable body criteria under the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 2005. The decision was made after the determination by the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council in April 2014. However, Argyll College is already represented on UHI’s further education regional board and it is an academic partner of UHI. In practical terms, all that the assignation will do is to change the route by which funding is distributed to the college.

Until now, North Highland College has contracted with Argyll College for the provision of further education in the Argyll region. North Highland College, which is already assigned to UHI, has been responsible for assuring the delivery of quality fundable further education by Argyll College. After the assignation takes place, funding to Argyll College will instead go from the Scottish funding council to UHI and from UHI to Argyll College as part of its distribution of the further education funding for the region.

Before Argyll College can be assigned to UHI, the Scottish funding council must be satisfied that the college complies with the fundable body criteria under the 2005 act. They ensure that a college has adequate provisions in place to deal with its governance and management, as well as financial accountability and quality control mechanisms.

Between 2014 and 2018, Argyll College was assessed by Education Scotland, the Scottish funding council and UHI’s internal audit service. All outstanding recommendations from earlier assessments have now been addressed. On 29 March 2018, the Scottish funding council wrote to my predecessor proposing the assignation of Argyll College to UHI as it was satisfied that the college now meets all the fundable body criteria that are set out in the 2005 act. My public consultation was published on 28 May and closed on 25 June, and 100 per cent of responses supported the proposal to assign Argyll College to UHI.

In summary, the assignation is strongly supported by the sector and it will empower the college to take accountability of its governance and funding under the oversight of UHI as the regional strategic body. I am confident that the benefits that this will bring to the learners, employers and communities that the college serves will enable it to move forward. I am happy to take questions from the committee.

Thank you. Are there any questions from members?

Members: No.

In that case, we move to agenda item 4, which is the formal debate on motion S5M-14432, in the name of the minister.

Motion moved,

That the Education and Skills Committee recommends that the draft Assigned Colleges (University of the Highlands and Islands) Order 2018 [draft] be approved.—[Richard Lochhead]

Motion agreed to.

I thank the minister and his officials for their attendance.

Thank you. I take it that that will be the usual process when I appear before the committee in future. [Laughter.] Thank you for starting as we mean to go on. I appreciate that.

I hope that you do not regret your offer. I am sure that there will be plenty of opportunities when we want to have you before us again. Thank you.

The committee must report to Parliament on the draft order. Are members content for me as convener to sign off the report?

Members indicated agreement.

Thank you. I suspend the meeting for a few minutes to allow witnesses to change over.

10:07 Meeting suspended.  

10:09 On resuming—