Auditor General tells MSPs that it’s hard to assess whether Scottish college mergers have saved money, despite recent Scottish Funding Council report shows that it already has saved more than £50m per year
THE AUDITOR GENERAL has told a Holyrood select committee that it's hard to assess whether the college merger programme in Scotland has saved money.
Caroline Gardiner from Audit Scotland was giving evidence to the public audit committee last week when she said that it would be “difficult to go back and generate baseline information” and “the longer we go from the point of mergers the more difficult it gets”.
It followed the publication of Audit Scotland’s ‘Scotland’s Colleges 2016’, which found that it was “unclear” whether the projected £50m saving was a direct result of the college mergers that took place in 2013.
Shona Struthers, chief executive of Colleges Scotland, said: “The context within which the mergers were implemented was complex so we would concur with the auditor general that it would be difficult to go back now and begin a process of assessing cost savings solely from mergers.
The auditor general said that it would be “difficult to go back and generate baseline information” and “the longer we go from the point of mergers the more difficult it gets”.
“We are pleased that Audit Scotland has recognised that colleges are performing well and that they continue to meet their activity targets set by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC). “
Scottish Labour said the report showed that both the Scottish Government and the Scottish Funding Council had not publicly set out when the benefits of the college mergers “will be achieved and how they will measure them”.
Scottish Labour’s inequalities spokesperson, Monica Lennon, said: “The auditor general has told MSPs that it is difficult to go back and generate baseline information and the longer we go from the point of mergers the more difficult it gets. The clock is ticking.
“It is vital that Scottish Government ministers take their heads out of the sand and provide the details that we need to determine whether this shake-up of our colleges has been worth it. It’s now or never.”
“It is vital that Scottish Government ministers take their heads out of the sand and provide the details that we need to determine whether this shake-up of our colleges has been worth it. It’s now or never.” Monica Lennon
When approached by CommonSpace, the Scottish Government denied the claims, saying that “the benefits the Scottish Government and Scottish Funding Council expected from college mergers were outlined in our college regionalisation consultation paper that supplemented our wider post-16 reform proposals“.
In 2011, the Scottish Government put out a consultation looking into how to reform colleges in Scotland by trying to improve standards of education and how the sector is being funded.
In response to the consultation – in conjunction with the colleges and the Scottish Funding Council – 13 college regions were set up to allow colleges to plan regionally, but deliver local post-16 courses.
This led to some of the areas, which include Glasgow south and west, to seek approval to merge the colleges to become a single institution in May 2013, in time for the 2013-2014 academic year.
“The benefits the Scottish Government and Scottish Funding Council expected from college mergers were outlined in our college regionalisation consultation paper that supplemented our wider post-16 reform proposals” Scottish Government spokesperson
Last August, the Scottish Funding Council published a report on the impact of the college merger programme and found that it had delivered more than £50m each year in efficient savings.
Also, the report said that Scottish colleges have become more resilient and sustainable that would be better suited for delivery of skill and working in partnership with employers and universities.
A Scottish Funding Council spokesperson said: “Our evaluations after the mergers have been looking at delivery against mutually agreed measures, annual visits by Education Scotland and feedback from staff, students and stakeholders as part of an ongoing process.”
“Post-merger colleges are delivering benefits for society and the economy – significantly in driving positive and improved outcomes for students, integrating curriculum, and providing a better landscape for the delivery of skills across Scotland.” Shone Struthers, chief executive of Colleges Scotland
Shona Struthers from Colleges Scotland said: “[The Scottish Funding Council report] shows that overall colleges planned and implemented the mergers well, have made good progress and that mergers can be regarded as successful, against the backdrop of significant wide-ranging changes which included regionalisation, the reclassification of colleges as public bodies by the Office for National Statistics and the re-introduction of national bargaining to the sector.”
Struthers added: “It is important that we now look forward. Post-merger colleges are delivering benefits for society and the economy – significantly in driving positive and improved outcomes for students, integrating curriculum, and providing a better landscape for the delivery of skills across Scotland.”
“The now-published Scottish Funding Council post-merger evaluations report sets out the objectives for, and outcomes of, college mergers.”
Picture courtesy of Glasgowfoodie
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