The Scottish Government

No 2: November 2005

This is the second edition of the Review of Scotland's Colleges (RoSCo) e-bulletin, which looks at the progress of the Review.

If you would like to be added to the mailing list for future e-bulletins e-mail rosco@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

In this issue:

Update on the Review
Core Group
Working Groups
Visits to Colleges
Further & Adult Education Division
Feedback Invited
Contacts

The Review Team has continued its travels. A further five colleges have been visited in addition to colleges hosting some of the Working Groups. The Team have also been to London and across to Belfast to meet with officials from the DfES who were part of the Foster Review Team and to meet with officials who have completed consultation process on policy proposals for the future development of a strategy for the statutory further education sector in Northern Ireland.

In this edition of the e-bulletin there is also an update on the first formal meeting of the Core Group and progress reports on the work being undertaken by the working groups.

We would be grateful if you could draw attention to the RoSCo e-Bulletin through your own internal and external newsletters and websites. We are also keen to ensure that the e-bulletin is circulated more widely by building up a more comprehensive distribution list. If you would like to be added to the mailing list please let us know by e-mailing rosco@scotland.gsi.gov.uk .

Minutes of Meetings and Associated Papers

Information about the Review can be found at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Education/Further-Education/RSC/Intro

Minutes of the preliminary meeting of the Core Group (and associated papers) are now available on the website along with the minutes and papers of the working groups.

Core Group

A meeting of the Core Group was held on 7 October 2005 in Glasgow. At this meeting members formally endorsed the revised remit of the Review following discussion by the Working Groups. The remit of the review is outlined in the Annex. The Group discussed the following issues:

Ministerial Powers of Intervention - the group discussed a paper from the Accountability and Governance Working Group about whether Ministers should retain their powers of intervention in relation to colleges. This had to be done because colleges will fail the new 'charity test' unless an order is made to either disapply the Ministerial independence aspect of the test or remove Ministers' powers of intervention. The Group concluded that given the fundamental importance of colleges retaining their charitable status, they would recommend that Ministers exercise their powers to disapply the test of Ministerial independence. Ministers are now considering the issue.

Bogus Colleges - the group discussed the actions of some bodies that purported to represent themselves as colleges delivering recognised courses. The group concluded that the Executive and other government agencies and departments should continue to monitor the situation.

Consultation Events -the group recognised the pressures that stakeholders, including the business community, face in trying to attend the large number of consultation events being run throughout Scotland. It was agreed that a paper would be prepared for the next meeting on proposals for consultation.

The next meeting of the Core Group will be held on February 21, 2006.

Working Groups

The Difference Colleges Make

This Working Group held its second meeting on October 19, 2005 at Angus College.

• A paper from the Association of Scottish Colleges (ASC) was discussed. The ASC was asked to look at it again to give a more complete picture of the full range of college activities
• An outline structure and draft chapter from the Funding Council's 'FE Baseline Publication', which will be a comprehensive and authoritative set of facts and figures on the provision of further education in Scotland, was discussed. The Council will collate and evaluate a range of data, to give an account of the role and contribution of further education within the economy and society
• The Funding Council agreed to prepare a paper on the competitiveness of colleges for next meeting
• The Executive agreed to prepare a paper on the economic impact of college learning on the economy
• The Scottish Chambers of Commerce will be conducting a survey on the views of its members about colleges. The findings of the survey will be available to the Working Group

The next meeting of the Working Group will take place on December 1, 2005 at Cumbernauld College.

Accountability and Governance

The Working Group held its second meeting on September 29, 2005 at John Wheatley College.

• There was a presentation from the John Wheatley Student Association on the role of student representation on the Board of Management
• The Group concluded that there was a need for Ministers to retain their powers of direction for reasons of public accountability and because they remain useful in extreme circumstances as alternative action that involved the withdrawal of funding could seriously impact on the day-to-day running of a college, and would impact adversely on students and staff
• It was agreed that a detailed paper would be prepared for the next meeting on the Group's research needs

The third meeting of the Working Group took place on November 4, 2005:

The Executive wrote to the chairs of incorporated colleges in July asking them to complete a survey to build up a picture of how Boards have changed over the last two years. Discussed the analysis of this questionnaire on governance and accountability. Discussed the research proposals.

The next meeting of the Working Group will take place in the new year.

Staffing and Learning Environment

The Working Group held its second meeting on October 20, 2005.

The Scottish Further Education Unit gave a presentation on its work and the research it is undertaking. Unfortunately due to time constraints a presentation by the Scottish Funding Council on estates issues was deferred to the next meeting.

A paper was tabled at the meeting outlining decisions the Minister had taken in relation to supporting the professionalism and development of staff. The Group was asked to develop options in relations to this. As the paper was tabled shortly before the meeting (given the timing of the Minister's decision) substantive discussion was deferred to the next meeting and member organisations of the Group were asked to prepare papers on taking forward these decisions in advance of this next meeting .

The next meeting of the Working Group will take place on December 1, 2005 at Elmwood College.

Colleges' Long Term Strategic Future

As we mentioned in the first e-bulletin, the Working Group agreed at its first meeting to use scenario planning and to establish a subgroup to oversee the process. Members of that steering group have now been identified. A meeting of the steering group will be arranged shortly.

The Review Team will also soon be meeting with stakeholders to begin initial discussions about colleges' strategic future.

Visits to Colleges & Stakeholders

The Review Team has been continuing with their visits to colleges. The Team visited

Adam Smith College (October 12)

Lews Castle College (October 13)

John Wheatley College (October 26)

Lauder College (October 31)

Central College of Commerce (November 2)

The colleges were visited to help us identify the difference colleges make, primarily through discussions with students and staff across Scotland. It has given us a much better understanding of the work colleges do in both urban and rural settings and the difference they make to learners and their communities.

We also intend to visit Stevenson College on November 11.

We will arrange visits to other colleges in the New Year focussing on other aspects of the Review.

The Review Team has also embarked on a series of visits to stakeholder organisations seeking their views on the difference colleges make. The Team has met a wide range of stakeholders including:

• Routes to Work, Hamilton
• Princes Trust
• Upstairs Kids Club Nursery, Cambuslang
• Dundee City Council - Social Work Department and Education Department
• Dundee City Council - Contract Services
• Cyclacel Ltd, Dundee
• Changing Places, Cambuslang

More discussions with stakeholders are planned.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has contributed to all these interviews.

Information About Other Work of Further & Adult Education Division

Amongst other the Division is currently preparing a presentation on the Review to present at the Professional Development Communities of Practice Conference on November 16. Colleagues from the Division were also involved in the launch of the Adult, Literacy and Numeracy Aspect report at the HMIE conference. The Division is currently analysing the responses to the consultation on "Finding Practical Solutions to Complex Needs". This consultation involved a wide range of stakeholders including young people with complex needs through an innovative consultation process involving a symbol based version of the document and one to one discussions. Ministers are expected to make decisions on the way forward around the end of the year.

Feedback

We would welcome ongoing feedback on any aspect of the Review. Please send your comments torosco@scotland.gsi.gov.uk.

Contacts

RoSCo Project Leader - Col Baird

Tel 0141 242 0237

Emailcolin.baird@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

ROSCo Secretariat - Victoria Beattie

Tel 0141 242 0239

EmailVictoria.beattie@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Address Further and Adult Education Division
Europa Building
450 Argyle Street
Glasgow
G2 8LG

ANNEX

REMIT OF THE REVIEW OF SCOTLAND'S COLLEGES

The remit of the Review of Scotland's Colleges is to:

"provide Scottish Ministers with a robust evidence base, and where appropriate, informed recommendations for change, upon which sound decisions can be taken on how to fund and equip Scotland's colleges to meet future challenges and demands. In particular the review will:

(a) examine the difference colleges make (to the learner, the economy and wider society), including:

• the full range of colleges' current activity (and the corresponding funding streams)
• the full range of learners benefiting from college opportunities
• the changed nature and level of college activity since incorporation in 1993
• costs, efficiency of colleges and benchmarking
• the full range of college competitors and partners
• outcomes for the learner, economy and wider society, including knowledge transfer encompassing quantitative (in appropriate time series) and qualitative information

(b) build on the work of previous reviews and examine the arrangements for accountability and governance in incorporated colleges including:

• the broader regulatory landscape in which colleges operate, and the potential overlap of jurisdictions
• whether boards should be responsible for appointing their own membership, including the chair of the board
• strengthening learner participation;
• ehancing the capacity of board members;
• whether the chair and other board members should be remunerated;
• the length of board membership for chairs of colleges and staff representatives;
• the roles of, and relationships between, the chair, board, principal to ensure maximum quality oversight, including the Board's ability to obtain independent advice and the roles, responsibilities and relationships of the Accountable Officer
• whether there is a continuing need for powers of Ministerial intervention
• the composition of the boards, including whether more needs to be done to ensure diversity and the current statutory requirement for 50% of board members to have capacity in "industrial, commercial or employment matters or the practice of any profession"
• (c) examine issues relating to the staffing, learners and the learning environments of Scotland's colleges to ensure quality learning experiences, including:
• opportunities for the further modernisation and improvement of learning and teaching methods
• supporting the professionalism and development of all staff
• whether there is evidence of an ageing workforce in colleges
• disability, race, religion and belief, sexual orientation, age and gender equality for staff and learners
• the competitiveness of colleges as a place of work (including recruitment and retention issues)
• estates (and flexible joint use of buildings)
• learning environments for learners

(d) examine the strategic future of Scotland's colleges in 10-15 years through a scenario analysis, and report on the implications of the range of likely scenarios. In considering these scenarios, examine possible changes in the key national, European and international environmental factors affecting learning and colleges. These might include, for example:

• demographic change
• economic change
• societal and technological change
• change in our expectations of the role and purpose of colleges
• change in approaches to learning and teaching
• change in the 'learning market'