Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee, 03 Dec 2008

Meeting date: Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Official Report 250KB pdf

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Subordinate Legislation

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Fundable Bodies (Scotland) Order 2008 (Draft)

Under agenda item 2, we have an opportunity to take oral evidence on the draft Fundable Bodies (Scotland) Order 2008. I am pleased to welcome Fiona Hyslop, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, to the committee. She is joined by Andrew Scott, the director of lifelong learning; George Reid, the head of further education strategy and college-specific issues, and the school-college review team; and Stephen O'Connor, policy officer in the higher education and learning support division.

Thank you for joining us. I understand that the cabinet secretary wishes to make some opening remarks.

I do not, but I am happy to move the motions following the raising of any concerns by the committee.

In that case, do members have any questions?

As there appear to be no questions from members, I think that this will be one of the cabinet secretary's easiest visits to the committee. It is difficult to know what clarification the committee might seek in relation to some technical name changes.

I am pleased to have the opportunity to move motion S3M-2832. The draft order is to be made in exercise of the powers that are conferred by section 7(1) of the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 2005. The changes that are made by it have, as required by the 2005 act, been approved or proposed by the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council.

The funding council may fund only those institutions that are listed in schedule 2 of the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 2005. The purpose of the order is to reflect two institution name changes and to allow the Scottish funding council to continue funding the institutions under their new names.

The name changes involve the Central College of Commerce changing its name to Central College Glasgow, and Napier University changing its name to Edinburgh Napier University. Including Glasgow and Edinburgh in the respective names builds on the international recognition of the institutions and of the cities concerned, as well as the international recognition of Scotland. The location of an institution is an important factor in student choice, alongside the courses that it offers and its reputation.

Central College of Commerce wishes to make its name change on 1 January 2009. Napier University wishes to make its change on 25 January 2009 to coincide with the 250th birthday celebrations for Robert Burns and the beginning of our homecoming Scotland celebrations. The order also amends an error in the 2005 act in the name of Glasgow College of Nautical Studies.

I move,

We have up to 90 minutes to debate the motion, but it is unlikely that there will be any rush to take part in such a debate. Therefore, we will move straight to the question.

Motion agreed to.

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Protection of Charities Assets (Exemption) and the Charity Test (Specified Bodies) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2008 (Draft)

For agenda item 4, we have the same witnesses before us. Do members have any questions for the cabinet secretary?

I see Ken Macintosh's finger wiggling.

The deputy convener is suggesting that there might be a question for the cabinet secretary, but I am not quite so sure.

There being no questions, we move to item 5. I ask the cabinet secretary to move the motion in her name.

I am pleased to have the opportunity to move motion S3M-2833. The draft order is to be made in exercise of the powers that are conferred by section 7(5), section 19(8) and section 19(9) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005. The act makes provision in respect of the assets of any body that is removed from the Scottish charity register, and enables the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator to apply to the Court of Session to approve a scheme for the transfer to a specified charity of such assets. Section 19(8) of the 2005 act allows Scottish ministers to exempt named bodies, by order, from that provision so as to protect public money that has been invested in those bodies and to help ensure that they can continue to perform their function if they lose their charitable status.

All incorporated colleges and higher education institutions are charities and are exempted by the Protection of Charities Assets (Exemption) (Scotland) Order 2006 (SSI 2006/220). The draft order reflects the changes that are being made to the names of Napier University and the Central College of Commerce, which I outlined earlier. The draft order also corrects minor errors in the entries for Glasgow College of Nautical Studies and the Adam Smith College, Fife.

As the committee is aware, the Charity Test (Specified Bodies) (Scotland) Order 2008 (SSI 2008/268) exempts the further education bodies that are listed in the schedule from the independence requirement of the charity test. The draft order that is before the committee makes the necessary change to the schedule to the existing order to reflect the name change for the Central College of Commerce.

I move,

Motion agreed to.

That concludes our consideration of subordinate legislation. I thank the minister and her officials for their attendance.

Meeting suspended.

On resuming—