The next item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S4M-10860, in the name of Claudia Beamish, on skills partnerships. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament recognises what it considers the important role of Skills Partnerships in South Scotland and across the country; believes that the partnerships illustrate successful collaboration between colleges and local employers, which is in line with the recommendations of the Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce, particularly for college courses, to meet the changing needs of local and regional economies; understands that Skills Partnerships allow particular sectors to share knowledge and best practice; recognises the value of skills partnerships across a range of sectors, including energy, finance and creative arts; considers that skills development is a crucial factor in career progression and that skills partnerships can play a major role in contributing to development; recognises that the partnerships operate throughout Scotland, which shows that the model can be applied to any college sector collaboration and is sustainable beyond the life of the project; believes that skills partnerships are a vehicle through which collaboration between colleges for outreach work can take place, especially in rural areas where courses can be inaccessible, and considers that, in the case of energy skills partnerships, this approach ensures that the right skills are being delivered and Scotland has the workforce, skills and competence required by all sectors and ensures that the industry can grow to meet increased demand and embrace new technologies, as well as offering transferable skills courses to allow Scotland to move toward a low-carbon economy.
17:02
I am pleased to bring to the chamber this very practical debate, and I thank my Labour and cross-party colleagues for signing my motion, which allows us to discuss the value of developing skills partnerships in Scotland.
As I am sure we are all aware, skills partnerships can take many forms and are structured to a greater or lesser degree of formality. They all have in common the purpose of developing the skills of people who work in particular sectors through knowledge sharing, placements, courses or funding. In many cases, colleges or other educational institutions work alongside professional organisations to develop the skills of graduates or school leavers, which enables geographical sharing and in many cases avoids the duplication of courses.
Secure jobs with a fair wage are at the heart of our future. The development of skills partnerships is invaluable in helping to drive forward job opportunities, career development and transferable skills in all sectors, although the fair wage is, of course, also driven by Government commitments.
There are many different types of partnership that focus on the range of skills that are required in the working world. I am sure that members in the chamber will want to focus on particular areas, depending on their interests and the relevance to their constituencies.
I will give an overview of a selection of skills partnerships—not only existing partnerships, but those with potential, such as rural, financial and hospitality partnerships. I will also focus more closely on energy skills partnerships, on which a lot of good work has already been done and which hold great potential for our low-carbon future.
Members will be aware of the good work that is done by Skills Development Scotland, which works with a wide range of national and local partners to support people and businesses to develop and apply skills, helping them to reach their potential.
The ability to react to the changing structure of the economy, which is SDS’s stated aim, is essential for creating skills that are fit for purpose and a strong skills base across Scotland’s workforce in a number of sectors.
Through its skills investment plans, SDS works to ensure that future employment demands are met and to allow the economy to grow in a sustainable way. Sectors such as engineering, life sciences, tourism, finance and food and drink are all addressed by SDS’s investment plans. New College Lanarkshire, which has campuses throughout the area, is doing a fine job of developing skills through partnerships. As well as working alongside the University of Stirling to develop a potential degree programme in dental nursing, the college is working with SDS and the local authority on areas such as engineering, through the modern apprenticeship scheme on its Motherwell campus.
As a regional MSP for South Scotland and a member of the Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee, I have a keen interest in rural affairs. A number of skills partnerships are aimed at developing skills in rural and farming sectors. Those partnerships will, I hope, help our young people so that they do not have to leave their communities. In Dumfries and Galloway, a project was launched recently to help young people to work in the dairy sector. That unique partnership, which has been created by Scotland’s Rural College, NFU Scotland, Dumfries and Galloway employment total access point and SDS, offers school leavers 12-week placements on local farms. As the college points out on its website,
“Host farmers will have the benefit of working with a young trainee, while the wider local dairy sector will benefit from an increase in ‘work ready’ individuals with references.”
We all know that people in the hospitality sector are often poorly paid and that there are poor career development paths. Skills partnerships can play a major role in ensuring that young people in particular can expand their skill sets and increase their employment options. The skills partnerships tend to be based on specific accredited courses. In Glasgow, young people who are still at school and who are looking to get into the hospitality business can take a course at the equivalent of standard grade, which is delivered in partnership with schools and a college. Such vocational courses give people an understanding of the various roles and responsibilities in the sector, from working in a kitchen to working front of house, and allow people to develop skills in communication, numeracy and problem solving.
The energy market can be organised in many ways, and it can be challenging for community groups to develop community energy plans. I have been working with Jen Ross from the University of Edinburgh and organisations that are active in community energy to develop a MOOC—for members who do not know, a MOOC is a massive open online course—on community energy, which could be classed as a skills partnership in itself.
My visit to Ayrshire College renewable energy department earlier this year, where I met lecturers and students, highlighted for me the great changes that have been happening in Scotland. All plumbing and electrical courses now include renewables awareness. There were roofs to fit solar systems on and turbines to allow students to develop maintenance skills. Ayrshire College is part of the energy skills partnership and works with the Crichton campus in Dumfries and others.
SDS and the energy skills partnership have done a great deal of work on energy. In August, at a meeting in Hamilton, I discussed the work that SDS is doing in the energy sector. I was encouraged to hear that a number of funding initiatives have been put in place to realise the Scottish Government’s ambition, which we all share, to create a low-carbon economy in Scotland and to give real strength to new jobs.
I was particularly encouraged by the work of energy skills Scotland, an arm of SDS that was established by the Scottish Government in partnership with industry. It is a way of simplifying access to a range of energy skills, resources and support across the public sector, and it involves collaborative relationships with academia, industry, skills stakeholders and the public sector. Energy skills Scotland quite rightly recognises the need for tailored courses. I hope that, through our discussion of such courses, we will raise awareness of the opportunities that exist for people who want to diversify their skill sets.
By promoting a number of career pathways for students, it is possible that, through the energy skills partnership, Scotland’s colleges can turn that sort of support into real job opportunities. That will also contribute to achieving the Government’s energy ambition and help us all to tackle climate change.
As an MSP for a largely rural region, South Scotland, I am aware of the challenges that face people who live in remote and inaccessible areas when it comes to accessing courses. There is significant potential for outreach programmes in that regard, and I hope that the cabinet secretary will comment on the potential for developing such programmes through Scottish Government support.
The issue might be logistically challenging, but it is imperative that it is addressed if we are to enable young people to stay in our communities. The Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee heard a lot about that this morning. I see that fellow members of the committee, such as Angus MacDonald, have remained here for the debate. Outreach programmes are an essential way forward.
I hope that the cabinet secretary will reassure us on the matter and, more broadly, tell us about skills partnerships that the Scottish Government intends to support, to improve job opportunities for young people, people who are transferring skills and people who are returning to work when maternity leave and other issues, such as mental ill health, have created a gap in their employment record. I hope that the cabinet secretary will comment in that regard.
17:11
I congratulate Claudia Beamish on securing the debate. Few things are more important than equipping the next generation with the skills that they need if they are to earn a living. It is about enabling our young folk not just to get jobs but to secure meaningful careers as the basis on which to build fulfilling and productive lives.
Few sectors offer greater opportunities in that regard than does the energy sector. I am disappointed that our further education sector did not realise the opportunities that the energy sector presents much earlier.
That was brought home to me in 2005, when I became aware of the Islay wave bus—the first bus in the world to be powered by wave energy. The wave bus was brought into service around 2002, but it broke down shortly after its arrival, and sat unrepaired and unused ever since. The reason for that unfortunate situation was that no one appeared to have the skills or ability to fix the bus. Back then, I met a lot of people who understood the theory behind renewable technologies but very few who understood the nuts and bolts and the practicalities.
I am afraid that often that is still the case. The situation has hardly improved throughout much of the Highlands and Islands. For instance, numerous small wind turbines have developed problems and broken down because repair and maintenance skills are much rarer than they ought to be. Problems often arise as a result of faulty installation, sometimes simply because the turbines are not properly torqued down on their concrete bases, which sets up a vibration that can destroy gear boxes and bearings.
That is basic engineering. The skills shortage in an industry that has so much promise is unacceptable. Installation of small-scale renewable technologies across much of the Highlands and Islands is severely limited and is much more expensive than it ought to be, because of the lack of installers who have the necessary microgeneration certification scheme approvals.
Correcting the situation is a challenge and an opportunity for our further education sector. Partnerships with employers should predominate. I was greatly impressed by the Nigg skills academy, which I visited earlier in the summer. I am delighted that the Scottish Government has supported the academy, which operates in partnership with industry and offers meaningful and appropriate training. I congratulate Alastair Kennedy, the facility’s chair, on the excellent work that he is doing, and I applaud his ambition to expand the facility, either on site or under a franchise model, so that the approach can be used elsewhere. The skills that are taught at the academy are appropriate to the oil and gas and renewables sectors, in which we are told that there are significant skills shortages.
I was also pleased to learn that the most highly skilled welders are often women. That is interesting, as it challenges preconceptions about some of our career and employment opportunities. We need to overcome the cultural perception that such careers are unpleasant, unrewarding and only for men. We must encourage our further education sector to become better at anticipating economic opportunities and developments and to offer training in appropriate and relevant disciplines. We must also encourage it to work more closely with industry and employers to ensure that training dovetails better with actual requirements. Skills partnerships are a step in the right direction.
17:15
I am more than happy to take part in the debate although, as I discovered when I made a few opening remarks at an event in my constituency last Saturday to commemorate the life and works of James Clerk Maxwell, I now have considerable difficulty in speaking any language other than what I can only call referendumspeak. So focused have all our efforts been over the past month that talking about anything else requires—for me, at least—great powers of concentration, which I hope I have. I will try hard not to stray from the subject of the motion.
Like other members, I congratulate Claudia Beamish on bringing the debate to the chamber this evening. I will concentrate my few remarks on the impact that skills partnerships can, and indeed should, have in rural Scotland. I very much agree with the section of the motion that states that the Parliament
“believes that skills partnerships are a vehicle through which collaboration between colleges for outreach work can take place, especially in rural areas where courses can be inaccessible, and considers that, in the case of energy skills partnerships, this approach ensures that the right skills are being delivered”.
Ever since I became an MSP, I have tried to argue, wherever it is right to do so, that colleges in particular, although also our universities, should deliver the skills and training that are most needed within their local economies. Although that applies in all parts of Scotland, it applies nowhere more than in Dumfries and Galloway, where a perfect example of the worth of skills partnerships can be found. The cabinet secretary will be aware of that example, as she visited it in April 2013.
Scottish Power is at the start of a massive and, some would say, long overdue investment programme in south-west Scotland, which involves the renewal and replacement of almost all its existing infrastructure. That is opening up a wealth of opportunities for skilled engineering and construction jobs, and Scottish Power, in its wisdom, has identified that, alongside the required training, local knowledge could only be of benefit to employees in such a rural part of the country. Therefore, in conjunction with Dumfries and Galloway College, SP Energy Networks has developed a specialist 12-week course to provide a group of already semi-qualified and semi-skilled individuals with the necessary training to become fully qualified main overhead line contractors with automatic full-time employment guaranteed on completion of the course. That has to be an almost perfect example of the theory of skills partnerships delivering the best possible outcome in a practical way, with local people being trained locally in skills that are badly needed within the local economy. It cannot possibly get any better than that, although there are many other fine examples, of which Claudia Beamish mentioned some.
Nevertheless, I suspect that there will be many examples of skills partnerships being less effective and not quite as joined up in their thinking. In some cases, there may be a danger of them becoming a tick-box exercise. I sometimes ask myself whether skills partnerships are really effective within the hospitality sector—which has been mentioned—and within public service. I suspect that they are not, but I am totally open to argument on that. We should perhaps take a long, hard look at the many and varied examples of skills partnerships that now exist throughout the country, evaluating which work best in delivering for their local economy and taking a hard look at those that do not. As always, we should then encourage and expand the identified examples of best practice and think again about the rest.
17:20
I, too, congratulate Claudia Beamish on securing the debate, which is a welcome opportunity to discuss skills partnerships and their contribution to the economy not just in the south of Scotland but across all Scotland. I also add that I am the joint convener of the cross-party group on skills.
In recent years, the college sector has rightly been the focus of rigorous debate in the Parliament. However, just as we debate our differences so, too, must we recognise innovation, progress and potential.
The purpose of skills partnerships is to provide a better level of collaboration among Scotland’s colleges, training providers and specific industries. Their purpose is also to map the opportunities available in different sectors, to plan the investment needed to nurture those opportunities and then to co-ordinate how those opportunities are made available to people who are training, progressing into work or looking for a decent start in life. Training and college learning can better reflect the realities of work in key sectors, with a greater emphasis on workplace learning and more of an understanding in the further education sector of the skills needs of industry.
The motion and the Wood commission report draw particular attention to the energy skills partnership, and that is what I will focus my remarks on. We can see how that partnership is making a difference in the south of Scotland through the overhead linesman training at Dumfries and Galloway College, the prospect of further training in jointing and cabling and the work with SDS, Dumfries and Galloway College and Ayr College to develop wind turbine training. However, the energy skills partnership serves Scotland as a whole. It must assess the demands and the skills needs of the energy sector in every part of Scotland and focus partners and providers on addressing them.
In my region, South Lanarkshire College, Forth Valley College and New College Lanarkshire all participate in the energy skills partnership. South Lanarkshire College, in conjunction with the local authority and Skills Development Scotland, has established an energy academy on its campus. Working with business, the energy academy helps build the capacity of companies that can create green jobs in the installation of microrenewables, energy efficient boilers and the maintenance of wind turbines.
The energy skills partnership ensures that the good work in South Lanarkshire to strengthen the skills base in energy does not happen in isolation. Throughout the energy sector, the skills partnership helps to meet the demands of employers and the aspirations of trainees. It develops pathways for progression into work or further learning and it can and, indeed, must help us to green the Scottish economy.
The collaborative effort, exemplified in skills partnerships, is essential in developing skills in the energy sector and in other sectors of importance to the Scottish economy. Partnership is not enough. We need to see results. We need to support our colleges, our training providers and local employers. What we have before us is not the finished article but a model and a principle on which to build.
17:23
I am very grateful to Claudia Beamish for her practical motion and the consensual debate that has ensued. She is quite right to highlight the tremendously important work of skills partnerships in the south of Scotland and across the country, along with the crucial role of our colleges and employers.
This Government has long been committed to developing a skills system aligned to employer and local labour market demand. Even prior to the report of the commission for developing Scotland’s young workforce, we believed that it is critical to Scotland’s economic growth that we provide employers with a workforce with the right skills and expertise to enable them to compete in what is becoming an increasingly international market. That is reflected in the Government’s economic strategy and the post-16 reforms.
I believe that that commitment has put Scotland in a good place. Findings from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills show that employers in Scotland are doing more to develop the skills of their staff than employers in the rest of the UK—65 per cent of employees are receiving training. In addition, the majority of employers find education leavers to be well prepared for work, and 78 per cent of employers are satisfied with the work-readiness of college leavers. However, that does not mean that we can sit back. We must ensure that employers continue to have access to a highly skilled workforce and, importantly, that our young people have the chance to start and progress in the exciting careers that can and should be available.
I was pleased that Claudia Beamish mentioned the good work that Skills Development Scotland is doing through the development of the sectoral skills investment plans. She is right that that is being done in partnership with industry and wider partners. We are seeking to better understand what skills and expertise employers need now and in the future so that we can align our provision accordingly.
A number of those plans have already been published for sectors such as the energy and digital technologies sectors, and further reports for other sectors are due later in the year. The key benefit of those plans is that they are developed collaboratively between employers and the public sector, as are the actions that are agreed to meet the skills demands.
Building on that success, SDS has also been working with the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council, local authorities and others to develop regional skills assessments to help to improve understanding of the skills and labour market demands that exist in the regions. I believe that that is particularly important for the Highlands and Islands and rural Scotland. Those skills assessments will provide valuable information and insight to help college regions and wider employability providers understand what employers in their regions need.
As the motion highlights, a number of highly successful skills partnerships are already operating across Scotland, including the highly successful energy skills partnership, which a number of members have mentioned. Those partnerships provide a great vehicle for employers to engage with learning and training providers to allow them to inform and influence provision to better meet their needs. That can only benefit employers and, crucially, the employment prospects of young men and women across Scotland. However, as has been said, we must ensure that the skills investment plans connect with all the various partnerships and, in particular, with the young workforce agenda. We must try collaboratively to corral the extensive work that is being done in the various sectors. Ms Beamish also referred to the important connections with the low-carbon economy and the on-going aim of tackling climate change, to which all parliamentarians are signed up.
I am grateful for the opportunity to reiterate the importance of the ambitions that are outlined in the report of the commission for developing Scotland’s young workforce. As I said to Parliament earlier this year, I believe that its conclusions are inarguable, and I judge it to be imperative that we transform the employment prospects of young people in Scotland. That is why we are working jointly with local government and others—including, crucially, employers—on that agenda, and implementation plans will be brought back to Parliament later in the autumn.
I acknowledge that, as Claudia Beamish outlined, in implementing the recommendations of the young workforce commission, we are building on an array of exciting and innovative partnerships across the country. Claudia Beamish and Margaret McCulloch spoke about the good work that is being done in Lanarkshire and about the importance of such partnerships to sustaining the rural economy. Ms Beamish, in particular, mentioned the importance of flexible outreach courses, particularly the MOOCs. I give her an undertaking that I or Mr Russell will write to her to give her a good overview of provision in that area and the plans to make improvements in it.
The Scottish funding council has been looking at this area for a number of years now, and it has established some important learning networks.
As for the disappointment that Mike MacKenzie expressed and the critique that he made, I draw his attention to the good work that has been done by Energy Skills Scotland and the Scottish Government with regard to the massive, £0.5 million investment in the wind and marine training network. We have also made good progress with wind turbine operations and maintenance modern apprenticeships. Energy Skills Scotland has been successful in ensuring 1,000 transitional training places in the energy sector, which is particularly important for some of the groups that Ms Beamish mentioned in her speech.
I should say to Alex Fergusson that I remember that great visit to Dumfries and Galloway College, which is doing great work with significant employers in the energy sector. Indeed, I was quite overwhelmed when I saw the young people climbing on the overhead lines to carry out crucial maintenance work. It is a great example of collaboration.
We need to keep a close eye on and scrutinise what works, because we will always learn from what works as well as what does not work quite as effectively. However, the important thing about skills partnerships is that they are, indeed, partnerships and that they are done collaboratively. We have talked in detail about the energy skills partnership, and I have no doubt that its success will be replicated in other sectors across Scotland. However, as I am sure Mr Fergusson will accept, we have to work collaboratively with employers. It is not a simple matter of Government telling employers what to do.
Finally, I pay tribute to the good work that is being done with colleges the length and breadth of Scotland. They are outward looking, are embracing change and are working very closely with employers to improve the employment prospects of people of all ages.
That concludes Claudia Beamish’s members’ business debate on skills partnerships.
Meeting closed at 17:32.Previous
Decision Time