Current status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 30 September 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the commitment in its fiscal sustainability delivery plan to “simplify the education and skills public body landscape”, which public bodies will be (a) merged and (b) closed; what the timeline is for this, and what financial savings will be made.
The Post-School Education and Skills Reform Programme includes work to simplify the funding body landscape. Subject to approval by the Scottish Parliament, the Tertiary Education and Training (Funding and Governance) (Scotland) Bill allows responsibility for securing and funding all apprenticeships to be consolidated at the Scottish Funding Council. Responsibility for funding further education student support is moving from the Scottish Funding Council to the Student Awards Agency Scotland administratively. These changes simplify roles and responsibilities, but nobody is being merged or closed. These changes will happen over financial year 2026-27.
The Scottish Government responded to the Stage 1 Report on the Bill, from the Education, Children and Young People Committee, on 19 September 2025. This included an update on the costs and savings for the Bill in Annex A of the Tertiary Education and Training (Funding and Governance) (Scotland) Bill - response to Stage 1 Report. Minister for Higher and Further Education; and Minister for Veterans
Furthermore, the Education Reform programme is making good progress in improving the landscape of national education bodies. The passing of the Education (Scotland) Act 2025 provides a platform for the establishment of His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) and for Qualifications Scotland to replace the Scottish Qualifications Authority. The programme is ensuring that these are both more focused on their role in improvement for learners and able to function as efficiently as possible. This has included, for example, models which support increased use of shared services. Alongside this we are also working to ensure that a refocused Education Scotland is streamlined and focussed on curriculum improvement.