This is the first of a regular series of newsletters

Transcription

1 Issue 1 April 2012 This is the first of a regular series of newsletters produced by Scotland s Colleges to help college board members, board secretaries and those senior staff who support their boards, keep up-to-date with what is happening across Scotland as the sector moves towards a new regional structure. While you may be up to speed with the changes in your own area or have some information on developments elsewhere, this newsletter will offer you a Scotland wide perspective on the decisions that have been taken and the discussions that are taking place. Copies of the newsletter will be issued by and also sent out via board secretaries and Chairs. If you would like to be added to the distribution list for this newsletter send your details to: marian.mcmorland@scotcol.ac.uk. This newsletter will provide a snapshot of events as we know about them but we are in a fast moving environment so if you would like to provide up to date information about what is happening in your part of the country for the newsletter please contact: marian.mcmorland@scotcol.ac.uk. We also welcome your feedback and suggestions for topics to be covered in the regular updates. Government Consultations and Announcements Here is a summary of the consultations and announcements related to college governance issued to date by the Scottish Government and the Scottish Funding Council. Note that there has been no comprehensive announcement yet from the Scottish Government on how they plan to take forward the proposals in the Griggs report or their own Post 16 Putting Learners at the Centre consultation paper. Date Author Topic Contact link July 2011 September 2011 Scottish Government Scottish Government 14/11/2011 Scottish Government and Scottish Funding Council 01/02/2012 Cabinet Secretary for Education 01/02/2012 Cabinet Secretary for Education 02/02/2012 Scottish Funding Council 13/03/2012 Cabinet Secretary for Education 29/03/2012 Cabinet Secretary for Education Announcement of terms of Griggs Review Consultation on Post 16 Putting Learners at the Centre Consultation on regionalisation and taking forward Post 16 Putting Learners at the Centre College regions announced Report of the Griggs Review published Announcement of indicative financial decisions for Scotland s colleges for academic year Announcement of West Lothian as 13 th college region New student funding via Skills Development Scotland announced Education/UniversitiesColleges/17135/ CollegeGovernanceReview/remit Publications/2011/09/ /0 Consultations/2011/Consultations_ jointconsultation.aspx Releases/2012/02/College Education/UniversitiesColleges/17135/ CollegeGovernanceReview/ FEGovernanceReport Circulars/2012/SFC0212.aspx Releases/2012/03/west-lothian Releases/2012/03/college-funding

2 Regional Areas Proposed by Scottish Government The government envisages that each region of Scotland will have a single fundable body by summer 2013 which will receive the FE funding for its area and will be responsible for allocating that funding between colleges (where there is more than one in a region) and accountable for ensuring the delivery of FE in that area. In the preceding academic year individual colleges will remain the fundable bodies but the Scottish Funding Council will provide funding on a regional basis. Details of precisely how that will work are still being finalised. The Regions Currently Proposed By Government Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire Ayrshire Borders Central or Forth Valley Dumfries and Galloway Fife Highlands & Islands Lanarkshire Tayside West will comprise: Aberdeen College Banff and Buchan College Ayr College Kilmarnock College The Kilwinning campus of James Watt College comprising: Borders College comprising: Forth Valley College comprising: Dumfries & Galloway College s Telford College Jewel and Esk College Stevenson College Adam Smith College Carnegie College Anniesland College Cardonald College City of College John Wheatley College Argyll College UHI Inverness College UHI Lews Castle College UHI Moray College UHI North Highland College UHI Coatbridge College Cumbernauld College Angus College Dundee College Clydebank College Reid Kerr College The non land-based provision at Elmwood College Langside College North College Stow College Orkney College UHI Perth College UHI Shetland College UHI West Highland College UHI Motherwell College South Lanarkshire College The Inverclyde campus of James Watt College comprising West Lothian West Lothian College In addition the three land based colleges Elmwood College, Oatridge College and Barony College will be treated as a region for funding purposes and special arrangements will be put in place for Sabhal Mòr Ostaig and Newbattle Abbey Colleges. 2

3 Sector Responses to Government Proposals Many colleges submitted their own responses during the Griggs review and in response to its proposals and those of the Post 16 Putting Learners at the Centre consultation document. In addition Scotland s Colleges co-ordinated sector wide comments. These can be found at: Outcome Agreements The Scottish Funding Council is currently holding discussions with college staff about the compilation of Regional Outcome Agreements for the academic year These have to be agreed at board level and submitted to the SFC in June 2012 and once agreed, delivery of the outcome agreement will be a condition of funding for Scotland s Colleges has organised a series of oneday seminars for board members who want to understand more about the Outcome Agreements and what they will mean for their college. All board members are welcome to attend: Wednesday 9 May 2012 Langside College, Wednesday 16 May 2012 venue to be confirmed Tuesday 22 May Perth College UHI, Perth. Details of what the seminars will cover and how to sign up to attend can be found at: events?cat=4 &region=&month=&year=&end_month=&end_ year=&s= To assist with this process, the SFC has appointed their own regional managers who are tasked with negotiating the agreements for each region. They are: Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire Tayside Land based colleges and SAC Ayrshire West Dumfries and Galloway West Lothian Fife Forth Valley Borders Newbattle Highlands and Islands Sabhal Mòr Ostaig Lanarkshire Karen Chapman (until May 2012) Julie McCran Alison Cook Jonathan Gray Judith Henderson Linda McLeod New Governance Development Programme A new Governance Development Programme for nonexecutive board members has just been announced by Scotland s Colleges to provide support and information to board members during this period of transition to the new regional structure. The new programme Regional seminars on key topics for board members including outcome agreements, the board as an employer and the new challenges of partnership working and stakeholder accountability Details of how your college or region can access free facilitation and support services Briefing papers on some of the more detailed or technical issues that board members will want to be aware of Webinars providing remote access, either live or recorded, to a range of experts offering advice and ideas on the governance issues facing college boards over the coming months. Details of the new programme and how to access the services it offers can be found at: 3

4 Regional News Everyone is awaiting further guidance from the Scottish Government about precisely how the new regional structure is to work but, meantime, colleges across the country have been exploring the possible options available to them: Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire Banff and Buchan and Aberdeen Colleges have signed up to a North-East Scotland Colleges Regional Federation Agreement which is intended to allow the two colleges to plan and deliver a fully-coordinated programme of further education opportunities across the North-east. See details news.cfm?news_id=17881 Fife Carnegie College board has announced its wish to enter into discussions with Adam Smith College and the non-land-based provision at Elmwood College with a view to setting up a single college for Fife. The board statement goes on to say we are mindful of the opportunities that remain open to us for a long term collaborative arrangement with wider HE partners in the future and the long-term impact of a tertiary model of learning for Fife communities and economy. See details Message-from-College-Board-of-Management.html Work is progressing on the merger of the Jewel & Esk, Stevenson and Telford Colleges with effect from later this year. Highlands and Islands Board members from the colleges in this area came together recently to discuss what a regional body might look like while still retaining the individual colleges. This area has the added complexity of needing to take account of the existing University of the Highlands and Islands and the fact that some colleges are run by local authorities. The chairs of the colleges in this region have come together within a Colleges Strategic Partnership to take the lead in developing a possible regional structure that would complement the work of the colleges. Parallel discussions are also taking place between some of the colleges on possible mergers. Cardonald, Anniesland and Langside Colleges have announced their intention to work towards a merged college. langside-college-enters-cardonald-merger-talks-asprincipal-names-the-date/. In a separate development, the Board of North College announced that it remained fully committed to the cross city Colleges Strategic Partnership and also planned to initiate discussions with Stow and John Wheatley Colleges to explore the learning and business potential of a three-way merger. Lanarkshire Three of the four colleges in Lanarkshire: Cumbernauld College; Motherwell College; and South Lanarkshire College, have proposed a federation model. See details federation-of-lanarkshire-colleges West The West Region colleges (Clydebank, James Watt and Reid Kerr) have submitted a bid for transformation funding to SFC with a view to full merger. The intention is to form one multi-campus college in the West Region with a target vesting date of 1 August Discussions will continue regarding the James Watt College Kilwinning Campus. Land-Based Colleges As part of the move to a merger with the Scottish Agricultural College, a public consultation process has been launched including a number of open events to be held in April. The boards will take a final decision on merger in the week beginning 14 May. Other Regions Regions which will contain a single college are Dumfries and Galloway, Borders, West Lothian and Central. Separate arrangements will be put in place for: Newbattle Abbey College and Sabhal Mòr Ostaig 4

5 New Guide for College Board Members While much of the focus is on the move to a regional structure, all Board members remain accountable for the day-to-day delivery of their colleges. Those responsibilities remain as important as ever and, for most, are likely to last for the next 15 months at least. The Secretary to the Board Community of Practice has just finished an update of the 2006 ASC Guidance for board members and published a handy summary document to replace the old 2007 summary version. This reflects all the new legislation and other requirements placed on board members and provides handy weblinks to key reference material. It can be found at: download/ Scottish Government/Sector Change Teams and Working Groups A number of college sector teams or working groups of college principals have been set up to work with the government during the transition to the new structure. The precise roles and remits of these groups are still being worked out but details of the college principals on each group and the government leads are: Group Programme College Sector Leads Government Lead Regionalisation Mergers and structures, governance, quality improvement and assessment, funding prioritisation, funding and performance Mandy Exley, Jewel & Esk College Rob Wallen, Aberdeen College Members of Funding Group Melanie Wheldon, SG Funding Outcome agreements, regional funding Tony Jakimciw, Dumfries & Galloway College Gordon Paterson, Clydebank College SFC & Skills Development Scotland Mhairi Laughlin, West Lothian College Graeme Hyslop, Langside College Hugh Logan, Motherwell College John Spencer, Inverness College UHI Student Support HE and non-advanced student support Paul Sherrington, Banff and Buchan College Martin Boyle Graeme Hyslop, Langside College Learner Journey Improved access and transitions, qualifications, student partnership agreements, community learning and development, careers advice and guidance Alan Sherry, John Wheatley College Miles Dibsdall, s Telford College Mhairi Laughlin, West Lothian College Gavin Gray Employability Skills and employment services, employer and economic need, employability fund, opportunities for all Linda McKay, Forth Valley College Martin McGuire, Cumbernauld College Hugh McAloon 5

6 Skills Development Scotland Funding The Cabinet Secretary wrote to Principals at the end of March 2012 outlining the key objectives and principles of the New SDS College Learning Programme (see for the government announcement). Colleges have been asked to bid for the 13.1m fund to provide training and work experience to young people. SDS has since written to all colleges outlining the indicative baseline allocation that individual colleges can expect (accounting for 64% of the total funding pot) and offering them the chance to bid for additional places. Details of the bidding process were made available through the Public Contracts Scotland Portal on 2 April 2012 and colleges are asked to submit a proposal by 30 April to SDS. The bids will be reviewed by mid-may and contracts issued by the end of May. Communities of Practice The staff of colleges have long worked together in informal Communities of Practice (CoPs) to share information and expertise around the sector and Scotland s Colleges provides support to these CoPs. A number of them are now looking specifically at the issues arising from the move to a regional structure. While this activity is focused on executive rather than non-executive activities, board members may wish to be aware of the work of these groups and ensure their own college is benefiting from them: Board Secretaries Finance Human Resources Management Information Systems ICT. More information on the work of these CoPs will be contained in later newsletters. 6

7 Dates for Your Diary Here is a list of event dates which will be covering the governance issues affecting the sector. You may wish to attend some of them and simply want to be aware of others: Date Event Location Contact Details 27/04/2012 Chairs Congress open to all College Chairs in Scotland 03/05/2012 Governance Support Programme The Board as Employer. 08/05/2012 Secretary to the Board Community of Practice Annual Conference 09/05/2012 Governance Support Programme Delivering College Outcome Agreements. 16/05/2012 Governance Support Programme Delivering College Outcome Agreements. 22/05/2012 Governance Support Programme Delivering College Outcome Agreements. 31/05/2012 Scotland s Colleges seminar to hear the experience of Northern Ireland s when their sector moved to a regional structure 13/06/2012 Governance Support Programme The Board as Employer. 18/06/2012 Governance Support Programme Leading Through Change. 21/06/2012 Scotland s Colleges National Policy Conference Scotland s Colleges, Stirling Carnegie Conference Centre, Dunfermline Scotland s Colleges, Stirling Langside College, Stevenson College Perth College UHI, Perth Scotland s Colleges, Stirling Langside College, Scotland s Colleges, Stirling Dynamic Earth, events/show/4151 events/show/4311 events/show/4323 events/show/4324 events/show/4325 Details to Follow events/show/4153 events/show/ holyrood.com/index. php?option=com_payp al&conference=196&te mplate=sc12 7

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