MSPs make no recommendation on education Bill over ‘significant’ cost concerns

A Holyrood committee has decided not to make a recommendation on a proposed Scottish Government education Bill due to “significant concerns”.

The Education, Children and Young People Committee did not make a recommendation on whether the Scottish Parliament should pass the Bill after concerns about the costs of these changes.

The Bill aims to provide specific funding for apprenticeships and national training programmes, improve processes and governance at the Scottish Funding Council, and clarify the procedure for providing student support to Scottish students studying at private institutions in the UK.

Concerns arose about the “lack of clarity” of the costs of a proposed restructuring of Scotland’s tertiary education and training funding landscape.

Committee convener Douglas Ross said: “The value of apprenticeships to learners and businesses across Scotland is clear – and that’s part of the reason why our committee supports elements which underpin this Bill. Funding should be responsive to what Scotland’s learners and economy needs.

“However, we’ve taken the unusual step of not making a recommendation on whether the Parliament should support the Bill in principle because of our significant concerns around the lack of clarity over the costs of the proposals.

“The Scottish Government must make progress on clarifying these if the Bill is to progress further.

“It is essential that we see a comprehensive update on the costs of the proposals before the Scottish Parliament votes on whether to proceed with the Bill later this autumn.”

The committee urged ministers to clarify the cost of transferring staff from the Skills Development Scotland (SDS) pension scheme to the Scottish Funding Council.

The Scottish Government estimated this could cost up to £23m, but the chief executive for SDS believed the cost could be higher.

MSPs on the committee did report that they support the Government’s ambitions to make funding more responsive to the needs of learners and the economy.

The MSPs also saw the benefit of measures to improve the governance of the Scottish Funding Council, which the Committee hopes could help protect the finances of Scotland’s university and college sector.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We know there is widespread support for simplifying the funding system in this key sector and we will provide further information on the transitional costs of the Bill ahead of the Stage 1 debate.

“While this report’s findings are disappointing, we will continue to engage with the committee and seek to address the concerns raised so that Parliament will be able to support the legislation to drive much-needed reform in the skills landscape, helping Scotland’s economy grow now and in the future.

“The Bill marks an important step in driving improvement in the tertiary education sector and will help ensure that our annual £3bn investment delivers the greatest impact for learners.”