Subordinate Legislation
Protection of Charities Assets (Exemption) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2007 (Draft)
I reconvene the meeting. We move to the second agenda item, which is consideration of two affirmative instruments. The first is the draft Protection of Charities Assets (Exemption) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2007. Members have been supplied with a copy of the order and a cover note.
I welcome to the committee the Minister for Schools and Skills, Maureen Watt, and invite her to speak to and move motion S3M-558.
The draft order is to be made in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 19(8) and 19(9) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005. The 2005 act makes provisions in respect of the assets of those who are 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 to transfer those assets to a specified charity.
Section 19(8) of the 2005 act allows the Scottish ministers to exempt named bodies, by order, from those requirements in order to protect Government money that is invested in those bodies and to help to ensure that they can continue to carry out their function if they lose their charitable status. All further education colleges and higher education institutions are charities and are exempt from the requirements under the Protection of Charities Assets (Exemption) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2006.
The draft order adds the Scottish Agricultural College to the list of bodies that are included in the 2006 order. The draft order also makes a number of changes to the list of higher education institutions and colleges to reflect changes that have taken place since the introduction of the 2006 order. Lauder College is changing its name to Carnegie College, to reflect the connection between the community that the college serves and Andrew Carnegie, who is, of course, one of Dunfermline's greatest sons.
Jewel and Esk Valley College is changing its name to Jewel and Esk College. It currently brands itself simply as Jewel and Esk College in marketing and recruitment and is now widely referred to by that title. The order also reflects a minor change in the name of Oatridge Agricultural College to Oatridge College, which the college considers better reflects the wide range of land-based industries that it supports, including horticulture, green keeping, horse management and countryside management.
In respect of the higher education institutions that are listed in the 2006 order, changes are being made to reflect the award of the title of university to Queen Margaret University and the fact that its governing body is now called the university court. The name of the Robert Gordon University's governing body has been changed to the board.
The order inserts the University of Paisley's new name, which is the University of the West of Scotland. As the committee will recall from its meeting on 24 October, that name change is being effected by the University of the West of Scotland Order of Council 2007. The order of council was made subsequent to a resolution of the governing body of the University of Paisley and the Privy Council's consent to the change of name on 18 July 2007.
I move,
That the Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee recommends that the draft Protection of Charities Assets (Exemption) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2007 be approved.
Standing orders allow us to have a debate of up to 90 minutes on the order. I do not want to close down an opportunity for committee members to speak, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it is not going to take us nearly 90 minutes. I remind members that this is not an opportunity to question the minister: it is a debate. Members will be allowed to make contributions, after which the minister will be called on to wind up the debate. I hope that she will take that opportunity to answer any points that have been raised.
We all welcome the draft order. When will the Government address how to protect colleges from losing their charitable status? Does the minister intend to achieve that through a statutory instrument?
I welcome the name changes—particularly that from Queen Margaret University College to simply Queen Margaret University, which recognises that institution's new status. Another university in Lothian region is welcome.
The minister said that the name change from Oatridge Agricultural College to Oatridge College was made to reflect the broader range of courses that Oatridge provides. I welcome that, but I would be concerned if that affected any of the specifically agricultural courses that are provided there. I look for reassurance that that will not be the case.
I suspect that Ken Macintosh's point about protecting colleges from losing charitable status relates to publicity in the summer about John Wheatley College. The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning is working on that situation with civil servants and will introduce legislation if it is required. She intends to make an announcement towards the end of the year.
Oatridge College's name has already changed; the draft order will just tidy the legislation. I share Mary Mulligan's concerns. I recently had a private visit to the Scottish Agricultural College at Auchincruive. As a farmer's daughter, I want to ensure that agricultural courses continue, but that is obviously up to the college and the funding bodies. On my visit to Auchincruive, I was reassured that all the courses that are necessary for the changing world of agriculture—to deal with the highly mechanistic tractors that are used and so on—are still available. If the member wants me to respond on anything specific, I am prepared to do so.
The question is, that motion S3M-558 be agreed to.
Motion agreed to.
That the Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee recommends that the draft Protection of Charities Assets (Exemption) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2007 be approved.
Fundable Bodies (Scotland) (No 2) Order 2007 (Draft)
The third agenda item is also subordinate legislation. Members have a copy of the draft order and a cover note in their papers. I ask the minister to speak to and move motion S3M-559.
I am pleased to have the opportunity to move the motion. The order is to be made in exercise of the powers conferred by section 7(1) of the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 2005. As required by that act, the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council has approved or proposed the changes that the order will make.
The funding council may fund only those institutions that are listed in schedule 2 to the 2005 act. The purpose of the order is to reflect recent changes that have taken place since the Fundable Bodies (Scotland) Order 2007 was made in March and to allow the funding council to continue funding the institutions under their new names. The order provides for three name changes: Carnegie College, Jewel and Esk College and the University of the West of Scotland. I outlined earlier the background to the name changes that have been made by those institutions.
I move,
That the Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee recommends that the draft Fundable Bodies (Scotland) (No. 2) Order 2007 be approved.
If no member wants to contribute to the debate on the order, the minister will not need to make any concluding remarks.
Motion agreed to.
That the Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee recommends that the draft Fundable Bodies (Scotland) (No. 2) Order 2007 be approved.
I thank the minister for her attendance this morning. I will now suspend the meeting to allow her and her officials to leave and our next witness panel to join us.
Meeting suspended.
On resuming—