Committee publication · Correspondence · 2 July 2025
Response from Colleges Scotland following up from 14 May session, dated 26 June 2025
Summary
Colleges Scotland, representing Scotland's 24 colleges and 218,000 annual students, submits written evidence to the Scottish Affairs Committee's inquiry on GB Energy and net zero transition. The organisation calls for sustained multi-year funding, greater funding flexibility, clarity on colleges' policy role, integration with Great British Energy delivery, and development of a financially sustainable staffing model to enable colleges to deliver the skilled workforce needed for Scotland's energy transition.
Key findings
- Scottish colleges have experienced a 17% real-terms funding reduction between 2021/22 and 2024/25 (Audit Scotland), threatening delivery of net-zero and Just Transition policy ambitions despite pockets of funding like the £3m Offshore Wind Skills Programme.
- Discontinuation of the Flexible Workforce Development Fund in 2024 eliminated training for an estimated 2,000+ employers and 45,450 learners; Modern Apprenticeship funding has been static at 25,500 places for a decade despite critical skills gaps in Energy Distribution, Engineering, and Offshore Energy.
- Staffing costs represent approximately 70% of college expenditure; 2024 pay settlements for lecturing and support staff, whilst improving Fair Work compliance, compound financial sustainability challenges requiring a joint UK-Scottish Government staffing model.
- Colleges seek clearer messaging and policy alignment on their role in supporting both the renewables transition and the existing oil and gas sector (£24bn investment expected over the next decade), including engagement on supply chain opportunities from the Great British Energy Act 2025.
- Greater school engagement and the Energy Skills Passport initiative are needed to build young people's confidence in energy sector careers and to enable upskilling and reskilling of the existing workforce.
Tone
ProceduralTopics
Key actors
Colleges Scotland, Scottish Funding Council (SFC), Skills Development Scotland (SDS), Audit Scotland, Great British Energy, Scottish Government, UK Government, Neil Cowie
Notable line
“Scotland's capacity to respond to the Climate Emergency will be negatively impacted without an adequately resourced college sector.”
Key Quotes
“… colleges are Scotland's skills engines, educating more than 218,000 people each year, and providing life changing opportunities to people across the country.”
“Audit Scotland has also evidenced that the college sector has seen a 17% reduction in real-terms funding in the three years between 2021/22 to 2024/25”
“… unless there is significant and sustained multi-year investment in the sector, the current position is unlikely to change, to the detriment of delivering both UK and Scottish Government policy ambitions.”
“In the absence of this systemic and sustained funding there is a real risk that the considerable opportunities for Scotland's economy and education and skills system, including colleges, will be missed”
“Staffing costs make up around 70% of college expenditure, according to Audit Scotland . The increases in pay for both lecturing staff and support staff through the settlements reached in 2024, whilst benefiting staff and ensuring colleges remain Fair Work employers, potentially compounds the future financial challenges.”
“We would encourage the UK Government to collaborate with the Scottish Government and engage with the college sector extensively as GB Energy progresses in order to fully exploit the sector's role as an assert in supporting upskilling and reskilling.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗