Fit for the Future: developing a post-school learning system to fuel economic transformation

Appendix A: Methodology

The Independent Review of the Skills Delivery Landscape was enacted independently of the Scottish Government and all other institutions. However, in accordance with the Terms of Reference, a wide engagement programme was conducted to hear directly from interested stakeholders and inform the recommendations of the Review. The engagement, as determined by the Independent Advisor, has been summarised below.

Principles of Engagement

Throughout all aspects of engagement, the Independent Advisor and supporting secretariat adhered to the Principles of Public Life in Scotland. This included acting with objectivity, openness, honesty and respect, and upholding and acting in accordance with the law and public trust.

Engagement Programme

Individual stakeholder meetings

To ensure an evidence-led approach, a range of stakeholders across the skills system were consulted. Consideration was given to those situated in urban areas, but also to those based across rural areas and islands - recognising the unique experiences and challenges of each.

Over 80 meetings were held between September 2022 and April 2023 to understand elements of the system - and to formulate thinking in line with what was set out in the Terms of Reference. This involved agencies and staff in skills delivery including Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council, enterprise agencies, businesses and industry groups, users and those within the post-16 education sector.

The purpose of these conversations was to understand individuals' and organisations' views and perspectives of what is working in the system and what might need to change. Participants understood that the information would be used in the Review to inform my recommendations, but to protect anonymity, views were not attributed to specific individuals or organisations within the Independent Advisor's report.

Public online sessions and engagement with users of the system

Users of the system were also able to contribute to this process via a series of 11 public webinars (hosted November until December 2022) which catered to following audiences:

• Apprentices
• Businesses and Employers
• Equalities / Third Sector Organisations
• Further Education Providers
• Higher Education Providers
• Independent Training Providers
• Local Authorities
• Public Sector Bodies

A separate set of youth engagement meetings were similarly arranged throughout the period of the Review to gain insight from young people who use services.

Call for Evidence

The 'Skills Delivery Landscape Independent Review: call for evidence' ran from 28 October until 23 December 2022, providing a robust process to gather evidence from interested parties. The call for evidence was published on the Scottish Government's consultation hub, Citizen Space, and asked 23 questions revolving around the scope of the Review. The questions can be found in consultation document attached in Appendix B. Respondents were able to answer any question – whether all or part of them.

For those unable to access Citizen Space, submissions were made to the dedicated Skills Delivery Landscape Review mailbox. This included background documents that individuals wished to share for reference.

Each submission required the completion of a respondent information form to determine publication and communication preferences. Only submissions that selected 'publish' (with or without name) were made public alongside this report.

To guarantee an objective and holistic process, and in accordance with the Scottish Government's Procurement Strategy, Craigforth Consultancy and Research were contracted to analyse the 164 call for evidence submissions and the online notes of the public webinars.

To ensure the Independent Review's recommendations were evidence-led, the contractors maintained weekly contact and provided emerging findings. Their full report has been published alongside this document.

Literature Review

In addition to engagements, the Independent Advisor and supporting secretariat perused a variety of reports, insight documents and general publications regarding Scotland and international skills systems and other linked policies - many of which are referenced in Appendix C: Bibliography. Stakeholders across the skills delivery landscape also provided background documents which were reflected upon. Those shared in confidence as draft reports or personal reflections have not been included in the bibliography.

Considerations

Whilst it was not possible to identify and interact with every party within the skills system, communications were broadcast through various networks to encourage participation of the public webinars and the call for evidence process. The 'Skills Delivery Landscape Review mailbox' was also open to individual requests and correspondence.