The Scottish Government has finished consultation on proposals for legislation to change what public bodies do in the post-school system in order to simplify responsibilities for apprenticeships and student support.

Chamber Response:

On behalf of the Scottish Chamber Network, Scottish Chambers of Commerce has responded to the consultation.

We support the ambitions of this consultation to ensure Scotland’s public investment in the post-school education and skills system is fit for purpose to meet the challenges and opportunities of the future.

On the proposals outlined in this consultation, we do not have a specific view on the models proposed as we believe the options are too narrow in scope. In our view, regardless of which option is chosen, we believe the model must embed the following areas:

1. Empower the new model(s) to take decisions and respond to market needs;
2. Properly fund the approach(es) to carry out its duties and responsibilities;
3. Partnership working between business and industry including policy design, implementation and co-investment models.

Reforming Skills Development Scotland to enhance its capacity and capabilities to develop Scotland’s workforce, ensuring the right supply of labour, boosting apprenticeships and technical and vocational learning, with Scottish Government taking a directive approach on national skills planning would be a welcome step forward to addressing skills shortages and supporting the wider workforce.

Overall, we are of the view that reform is necessary but is not an end to itself. Reform must be underpinned and aligned with Scotland’s economic growth plan if we are to take advantage of the transformative economic opportunities in the marketplace.

We should maintain the well-regarded approach that Skills Development Scotland has developed and implemented to promote apprenticeships in Scotland and its strong values in working with industry and the business community.

The opportunities that exist in the marketplace require a cohesive and integrated response if we are to see Scotland’s post-school education and skills system become more agile and responsive to the needs of the economy and industry.