Supporting Skills and Further Education Opportunities in Scotland

That the Parliament notes the belief that there is an urgent need for wholesale review and implementation of a new national skills and further education funding strategy in Scotland, including in the Mid Scotland and Fife Region; notes with concern reports that a number of college campuses have faced wholesale closure, most notably the Alloa Campus of Forth Valley College and the Elmwood Campus of Scotland’s Rural College in Cupar; further notes reports that some Scottish universities are also cutting back on major skills offerings due to mounting financial difficulties, with the reported entry into administration of Air Service Training (Engineering) Limited (AST) at Perth Airport in April 2025 representing what it sees as one of the most consequential losses in vital investment and skills development opportunities provided by UHI Perth, and notes the view that this is severely impacting the aeronautical sector in Scotland; understands that severe warnings have been issued by senior representatives of Scotland’s further education sector on what it considers are deep flaws of the current funding mechanisms for skills and tertiary learning in Scotland, and notes the calls on the Scottish Government, and the Minister for Innovation, Technology and Tertiary Education in particular, to engage with everyone in the Parliament to create a new skills strategy for Scotland, which, it believes would support everyone who faces being left behind in an increasingly turbulent labour market and ensure that colleges and universities in Scotland can provide opportunities with robust and sustainable funding models to back them.