Chamber and committees

The Government outlines its priorities for the college sector through my annual letter of Ministerial guidance. For 2012-13 my priorities included:

A guarantee of an appropriate place in learning for every young person aged 16 to 19,

That a similar offer is available, where possible, to 20-24 year olds,

Resourcing provision for those looking for jobs, and those with low or out of date skills

Improving retention levels at colleges

These priorities will be delivered through outcome agreements which the Scottish Funding Council has negotiated with colleges. I will publish all college outcome agreements before the start of the 2012-13 academic year.

The Government outlines its priorities for the college sector through my annual letter of Ministerial guidance. For 2012-13 my priorities included:

A guarantee of an appropriate place in learning for every young person aged 16 to 19,

That a similar offer is available, where possible, to 20-24 year olds,

Resourcing provision for those looking for jobs, and those with low or out of date skills

Improving retention levels at colleges

These priorities will be delivered through outcome agreements which the Scottish Funding Council has negotiated with colleges. I will publish all college outcome agreements before the start of the 2012-13 academic year.

Whilst training and apprenticeship plans have been produced in some Scottish Government contracts, for example, the construction of the Scottish Crime Campus at Gartcosh, this information for all contracts is not held centrally and can only be provided at disproportionate cost. We are currently considering how we may, in the future, be able to capture such data systematically.

We intend to use the forthcoming consultation on a Procurement Bill to seek the views of the public, private and third sectors on whether those awarded a major contract should publish their training and apprenticeship plans.

The Scottish Government published guidance in February 2008 on how to use public contracts to deliver wider community benefits, such as training and employment opportunities. Over 3,500 targeted recruitment and training opportunities have been achieved in Scotland through this approach, which has been applied on contracts such as those for the Commonwealth Games, the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow and the Scottish Crime Campus. While there is currently no central database of the number of apprenticeships created by companies holding public contracts or receiving public support, we are considering how we can capture information relating to contracts systematically in future. We also intend to use the forthcoming consultation on a Procurement Bill to seek view on whether companies in receipt of major public contracts should be required to publish their training and apprenticeship plans.

We are engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, including business representatives and, once the consultation on the Bill is launched, all businesses, not just those who already hold Government contracts, will have an opportunity to submit their views.

We are engaged with representatives from the higher education sector to support the excellent work being carried out with employers from all of Scotland’s key industries to improve opportunities for graduates and explore solutions to the issue of underemployment.

The Government outlines its priorities for the college sector through my annual letter of Ministerial guidance. For 2012-13 my priorities included:

A guarantee of an appropriate place in learning for every young person aged 16 to 19,

That a similar offer is available, where possible, to 20-24 year olds,

Resourcing provision for those looking for jobs, and those with low or out of date skills

Improving retention levels at colleges

These priorities will be delivered through outcome agreements which the Scottish Funding Council has negotiated with colleges. I will publish all college outcome agreements before the start of the 2012-13 academic year.

As with all Government bodies and agencies, the Scottish Government will be in dialogue with heritage and cultural organisations about the development of their youth employment plans on an ongoing basis.