Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government meets and engages with Audit Scotland regarding their annual publications on Scotland's Colleges which are published on Audit Scotland’s website. Audit Scotland’s most recent publication can be found here : https://audit.scot/publications/scotlands-colleges-2023 . However, there has not been specific discussion regarding Audit Scotland’s scrutiny of overall staffing budgets and spend in colleges.

The Scottish Government, through its Peatland ACTION partnership, restored 7,468 hectares in 2022-23 financial year. However, since then, in the full completed delivery year of 2023-24, a total of 10,360 hectares have been restored.

In response to S6W-27228, I indicated necessary engagement in relation to the inquiry will be undertaken once all legal proceedings associated with the malicious prosecutions are concluded. Not all legal proceedings are concluded. When it is undertaken, this engagement will include communication with the Lord President of the Court of Session in respect of judicial involvement in the inquiry.

College Principals’ salaries are for individual colleges to determine. The Scottish Government does however, expect that pay arrangements for senior staff ensures value for money, affordability and sustainability in the longer term.

We announced last year that we will look to make the new £10 million fund available across the financial years 2024-25 and 2025-26. As a result there has been no funding to date. We know how important it is to develop clear funding criteria to ensure the best possible use of the fund. We will confirm future funding after this has been finalised.

The increase in the Scottish Funding Council’s (SFC) balance relates to Taxpayers’ equity, which represents SFC’s investment in the university sector through low cost loans (SFC’s Financial Transactions programme) issued to universities to support them with longer-term projects since 2018.

Taxpayers’ equity is not a liquid asset which can be spent. It is a measure of the financial position of SFC from the perspective of its stakeholders showing what assets (tangible and intangible) remain after all SFC debts and obligations are met. It reflects the overall net worth of SFC which belongs to the taxpayer.

SFC’s ability to support the college and university sectors is framed by the allocation received in annual Budget Bills and SFC is required to live within the allocation set for that financial year. SFC does not hold any “reserves” of monies.

Staffing costs and pay structures are operational matters for colleges to determine. The Scottish Government has no locus to review pay structures and staffing costs in colleges.

Staffing costs and ratios are operational matters for colleges to determine. The Scottish Government has no locus to benchmark staffing costs and ratios in the college sector.

The Scottish Government is focussed on addressing violence against women and girls which is why we are implementing Equally Safe, our strategy to prevent and address all forms of violence against women and girls, specifically violence, abuse, and exploitation directed at them because of their gender.

The Scottish Government response to the Independent Strategic Review of Funding and Commissioning of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Services was published in November 2023 and can be found here ( https://www.gov.scot/publications/violence-against-women-and-girls-joint-statement-with-cosla ). Since then we have established a VAWG Sustainable Funding Project Board to take forward our commitment to develop a flexible and stable funding model for VAWG services and the Review’s report will be considered as we develop a new funding model.

Equally Safe, Scotland’s strategy for preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls acknowledges the important role specialist and single-sex services play in supporting victim-survivors of violence against women and girls.

There are single sex exceptions in the UK wide Equality Act 2010, and it is the responsibility of service providers to comply with the 2010 Act. The Equality and Human Rights Commission as the body responsible for enforcing the 2010 Act has produced specific guidance to support organisations in their compliance, including a Statutory Code of Practice and a guide for service providers who operate a separate or single-sex service.