Letter from the Convener to the Cabinet Secretary for Education and SKills
Dear Shirley-Anne,
Skills: alignment with business needs
At its business planning day in August, the Education, Children and Young People Committee agreed to hold initial, exploratory evidence sessions on how skills policy in Scotland aligns with the needs of businesses, with a view to informing future work in this area.
The Committee took oral evidence over two meetings and received several written submissions. Details of evidence received can be found in annexe B to this letter. This is preliminary work in this policy area and we are not seeking to cover the whole range of issues relating to skills and business alignment at this stage. We intend to return to skills issues when our work programme allows.
We are writing to highlight what we consider to be the main issues emerging from evidence received. This is set out in annexe A to this letter.
The Committee would ask you to provide a response to this letter by 8 April 2022. This letter is also copied to Skills Development Scotland, the Scottish Apprenticeship Advisory Board and the Scottish Funding Council given that their roles are pertinent to some of the issues raised. The letter is also copied to the Economy and Fair Work Committee given its scrutiny role in relation to skills policy, the economy and the labour market.
Yours sincerely,
Stephen Kerr MSP
Convener