Chamber and committees

Work around the financial impact of Covid-19 on colleges continues to be progressed as a priority and at pace by the Scottish Government and the Scottish Funding Council. We are working closely with our colleges and other stakeholders through the Further and Higher Education Covid-19 Ministerial Leadership Group, as well as with the College Principals Group, College Chairs and Unions, to build an understanding of the immediate and longer term impacts across teaching, staff, and student issues and how to support colleges now and when the current lockdown measures are lifted.

SFC analysis has established colleges will face a loss of £25 million in the current academic year and a more severe loss in 2020-21. SFC have guaranteed to continue with scheduled payments to colleges and is engaging directly with each institution to understand challenges, support business continuity development and to signpost to guidance. We are also discussing additional financial support needs with the UK Government.

Any decision on detailed allocation of such consequentials would only be taken once the exact purpose of the consequentials is known.

The Scottish Government are working collaboratively with key partners and stakeholders to consider how to meet the needs of all our children and young people during our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including those living in different care settings.

Since 23 March 2020 we have been having ongoing discussions with Who Cares? Scotland (WC?S) and other organisations that support children and young people living in care to discuss the response to COVID-19 and the lockdown. These discussions have focused on pressing issues arising for children, young people and their families, co-ordinating strategies and responses and considering funding support.

The Scottish Government has granted over £850,000 to key stakeholder organisations to help provide direct support to looked after children and young people, and Scotland’s most vulnerable families, during the COVID-19 pandemic. These organisations are working collaboratively to maximise support across Scotland, and their work will include provision of food parcels, support to purchase essential goods, and increasing child protection capacity. In financial terms this includes:

• Up to £100,000 match funding for Aberlour's Urgent Investment Fund to assist with a range of needs, such as food, prepaid power cards, clothing, bedding or other essentials;
• Up to £375,00 to Who Cares? Scotland (£175k and £200k) for funding to support those in their reach – organising shopping (including delivery where necessary), and cash for electric, gas or mobile phone top ups. This includes additional mental health support in collaboration with BACP (counselling service);
• Up to £178,000 to Barnardo’s – this has provided E vouchers, Food parcels, Assistance to use food banks, Direct payments to families/young people, Direct payments to staff/volunteers, Company credit cards;
• Up to £202,000 to Action for Children – this provided finance, food and welfare support to help alleviate financial hardship as well as the continuation and enhancement of Wellbeing, Safety and Safeguarding.

The Children and Families Directorate has also provided funding that will enable Children 1 st and Aberlour to be part of the Connecting Scotland pilot, which will commence shortly. The pilot will provide laptops suitable for education purposes and 6 months data via a sim to families highlighted by Children 1 st and Aberlour as being particularly in need.

All of the above investment is part of the Scottish Government's wider £350 million Communities Funding to help those most affected by the pandemic.

No consequentials deriving from DfE investment in colleges in response to Covid-19 have yet been received.

Work around the financial impact of Covid-19 on colleges continues to be progressed as a priority and at pace by the Scottish Government and the Scottish Funding Council. We are working closely with our colleges and other stakeholders through the Further and Higher Education Covid-19 Ministerial Leadership Group, as well as with the College Principals Group, College Chairs and Unions, to build an understanding of the immediate and longer term impacts across teaching, staff, and student issues and how to support colleges now and when the current lockdown measures are lifted.

SFC are continuing with scheduled payments to colleges and is engaging directly with each institution to understand challenges, support business continuity development and to signpost to guidance. SFC have committed to colleges that they will not be recovering funding if targets are not met in the current academic year due to Covid-19 reasons.

Skills Development Scotland has been regularly updating training and learning providers and recently issued guidance to all training providers, including Colleges and Colleges Scotland. This guidance outlined Skills Development Scotland’s focus on four key areas;

- Providing flexibility in service delivery evidence requirements

- Enabling contract suspension without penalty to allow provider uptake of Government support measures (e.g. Job retention scheme)

- Providing guidance and support materials

- Ensuring consistent communications and up-to-date, online information

As part of Skills Development Scotland’s response to Covid-19 they have allowed apprentices and their employers to suspend their learning while they are unable to work or learn. Once restrictions are lifted and it is safe for apprentices to return to work and undertake their training then their apprenticeship can resume from the same point.

Skills Development Scotland are continuing to update their FAQs section on their website which provides up to date information for apprentices, employers and learning providers. This includes responses to questions submitted by Colleges via Colleges Scotland. Skills Development Scotland acknowledges within the FAQs that the effects of Covid-19 will mean that the Key Performance Levels for 2020-21 will be very challenging to achieve. Skills Development Scotland will review the situation over the forthcoming months and will issue further guidance.

Regarding the administration of the Flexible Workforce Development Fund it is the Scottish Funding Council that administers this fund not Skills Development Scotland. The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) currently have no plans to financially penalise Colleges if they are unable to meet all of their outcome targets. Scottish Government officials are currently working collaboratively with Colleges and Scottish Funding Council to assess the position and consider alternative methods of delivering training.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-28480 on 5 May 2020. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The Scottish Government remains fully committed to deliver on its pledge to care experienced people in Scotland by accepting and responding to the Care Review conclusions and to put into place the infrastructure to develop and deliver an Action Plan to implement the outcomes reached and ‘#KeepThePromise’.

The COVID-19 emergency response has undoubtedly impacted upon the ability of the Scottish Government and key partners’ ability to progress what had been ‘business as usual’. Indeed, the Independent Care Review itself has been impacted and we have granted additional time in order that it may conclude its work as a result of the impact of COVID-19 and that is being kept under review.

The First Minister has committed the Scottish Government to work with all of our energy and focus, along with local authorities, care providers and all relevant stakeholders, to make the changes to the system that the Care Review considers necessary and to deliver that change as quickly and as safely as possible. Whilst we have not been able to move as quickly on implementation as we originally aimed to, it remains a key priority and the Scottish Government has been working hard to ensure that the principles of the Care Review’s “Promise” are reflected in our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including in practice guidance and policies underpinning emergency legislation.

Discussions are currently ongoing with relevant partners to agree the best approach to take to ensure implementation of the conclusions of the Care Review and Scottish Ministers will seek to update Parliament about future plans in due course.