Chamber and committees

Our priority for transition of the Industrial Injuries scheme, alongside all benefits to be devolved, is safe and secure transfer, ensuring that households continue to receive payment on time and in the right amount. Those who are eligible for the benefits at the point of transition will continue to receive them. It is clear from the recent consultation that people believe the scheme to be outdated and no longer reflective of the modern workplace. We will enlist the support of experts to advise us on the most effective arrangements, including the Industrial Injuries Advisory Group and the Disability and Carers’ Benefits Expert Advisory Group.

The Scottish Government’s policy is for Scotland to be a member of the European Union. We will set out well before any referendum how Scotland’s relationship with Europe will be secured.

An independent Scotland’s contributions to the budgets of international organisations would be agreed as part of the membership process for each organisation. In respect of the EU, it is likely that as a relatively prosperous Member State, an independent Scotland would continue to be a net financial contributor to the EU budget.

The Scottish Government welcomes initiatives to encourage public engagement. The manifesto on which the current Scottish Government was elected was clear that the Scottish Parliament should have the right to hold another referendum “if there is a significant and material change in the circumstances that prevailed in 2014, such as Scotland being taken out of the EU against our will”.

The College Board operates in accordance with the Financial Memorandum between the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and the College and the Code of Good Governance for Colleges.

Board structures have been reviewed and the board itself has been active in supporting the Business Transformation Plan (BTP).

A new Senior Management Team (SMT) has recently been brought together, comprising three new Assistant Principal posts with set remits.

The SFC is working closely with the SMT through the Outcome Agreement process and BTP monitoring.

The College works with its key stakeholders including Community Planning Partnerships to ensure that provision is aligned to regional need.

The College has to evidence how it is responding to regional need including the communities it covers within its Outcome Agreement. The Outcome Agreement Process enables the Scottish Funding Council to monitor the level of engagement the College is having with its key stakeholders and how it is responding to regional need.

(a) The college reported a deficit in its 2014-15 financial statements of £5.1m. The financial statements for 2015-16 are to be laid before Parliament in April 2017.

(b) The College has projected through its Business Transformation Plan to be in a break even position by AY 2018-19.

The SFC is closely monitoring College progress implementing their Business Transformation Plan in AY 16-17, a key strand of which is student recruitment.

The College is close to reaching its credit activity target for AY 16-17 and has undertaken significant restructuring of its curriculum to better serve the regional skills needs and respond to demand. College planning has contributed to this improvement, with smarter use of data and intelligence.

For AY 16-17 Edinburgh College was awarded the following funding:

£40,162,091 Grant in Aid for teaching;

£10,495,590 for student support;

£665,747 for European Social Funds; and

£5.3 for Business Transformation Plan (£2.9M of this is a cash advance to be repaid in future years).

Allocations from the Scottish Funding Council for future academic years will be dependent on the outcome of future spending reviews and the Business Transformation Plan support funding will finish in AY 17-18.

The Scottish Government believes the people of Scotland should be given the final choice between going for Brexit and becoming an independent country once the terms of Brexit are clear. The First Minister has also committed to providing clarity on the economic implications of independence before any future referendum is held.