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Comment on the College Regionalisation Report

Shona Struthers, Chief Executive of Colleges Scotland welcomed the report by the Education, Children and Young people Committee published today (Tuesday, 21 March 2023). She said:

“The Committee has listened to the wide range of concerns from college leaders as well as from students, trade unions and agencies and this report highlights the positive outcomes which regionalisation has brought. These include increases in articulation, an enhanced college student voice, and the benefits of colleges of scale.

“The report clearly identifies outstanding issues around the lack of a vision for colleges from Scottish Government, and the need for sustainability.

“The Committee has highlighted the dire state of some college estates. We would welcome urgent support to gain the “requisite resource” needed to make campuses wind and watertight, and be part of the move alongside the rest of the public sector to get to net zero by 2045. College students and staff deserve to learn and work in classrooms, studios and workshops which are fit for purpose and which provide outstanding learning environments.

“We are also grateful that the Committee noted the very wide and deep range of activities colleges undertake every day, every week, every year, which they do with severe restrictions around being able to plan for the future. Colleges can’t borrow funding or carry any funding over into the next academic year, and are facing severe financial pressures which are accelerating. It is welcome that their role as being community anchors was so strongly acknowledged – colleges are at the heart of communities across the country and when colleges thrive, Scotland thrives.”

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