Chamber and committees

Once relevant powers are available to them, ministers plan to designate by order every college in a single college region that has a board of management under Part 1 of the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992 as a regional college. While these regional college boards will have powers that could be used to fund through contract the provision of education from others, the primary role of a regional college will be to deliver education themselves.

Information on the outputs of the parking workshop held on 22 November 2013, are available on the Transport Scotland website at:

http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/road/policy/legal-requirements/road-and-traffic-orders/decriminalised-parking-enforcements

These will be discussed with local authority partners in early 2014.

The decision to reclassify colleges was announced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in October 2010. The Scottish Government was not consulted on this decision in advance of the ONS announcement, therefore there was no opportunity for us to consult with the sector prior to reclassification being imposed.

Full engagement with the sector could only be meaningfully undertaken once detailed discussions with UK Treasury over the basis of the decision, the timing of implementation and the scope for mitigating implications had been resolved. Despite lengthy discussions, HM Treasury offered no flexibility or mitigation. We then began engaging with our colleges and on 13 May 2014, along with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth and representatives of the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), I met college chairs, principals and regional leads to discuss the impact of the decision.

Since then, a project team, led by SFC staff and supported by Scottish Government officials and external experts, including college representatives, has been established and has held a number of constructive meetings with the sector, leading to the development of purposeful measures to mitigate the impact of the ONS decision.

The unwelcome decision to reclassify colleges as central government bodies was taken by the Office of National Statistics and opposed by the Scottish Government. In spite of extensive negotiation, HM Treasury offered no flexibility or mitigation on the decision.

Ministers are clear that successful outcomes are founded on partnership with colleges and, as part of that, effective governance and accountability in respect of the very substantial sum of public investment they receive. After careful consideration it became clear that to seek to reverse the reclassification of colleges would have resulted in a removal of controls around the college sector that would compromise that relationship.

Data on the number of students who attended colleges in Scotland are produced by the Scottish Funding Council. The latest data are for academic year 2011-12.

Table 1 shows the number of female students who attended college in each of the last five academic years for which data are available, broken down by mode of study.

In recent years, we have asked colleges to concentrate on delivering courses that focus on employability. The fall in part-time and increase in full-time students shown in Table 1 is the result of this re-focusing, and reflects a move away from funding very short programmes of study (under 10 hours), and leisure programmes. Table 1 also makes clear that full-time equivalents (FTEs), a better measure of the volume of learning, have remained largely unchanged over the period in question.

Table 1 – Female students at Scottish colleges – headcount by mode of study and FTE, 2006-07 to 2011-12

Source: Scottish Funding Council.

The general life expectancy for women and men by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD2009) is published on the National Records of Scotland's website and is available through the following link:

http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/theme/life-expectancy/scottish-areas/2008-2010/index.html

The National Records of Scotland does not publish specific life expectancy statistics for people with mental health issues.

This information is not held centrally. I will ask the chief executive of Skills Development Scotland to write to you on this matter.

The development of arm’s-length foundations is a matter being taken forward by the Scottish Funding Council. I have asked its Interim chief executive to respond directly to you.

The development of arm’s-length foundations is a matter being taken forward by the Scottish Funding Council. I have asked its Interim chief executive to respond directly to you.

The development of arm’s-length foundations is a matter being taken forward by the Scottish Funding Council. I have asked its Interim chief executive to respond directly to you.