Good college governance consultation: analysis of responses

Section 2: Introduction

2.1 The effective governance of Scotland's colleges is fundamental in supporting them to improve the life chances of their students and the performance of businesses. A broad review of college governance in Scotland was undertaken by the Good College Governance Task Group, led by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning. The Group reported in 2016^[1] with a series of recommendations.

2.2 A consultation paper^[2] on Good College Governance was published by the Scottish Government on 18 April 2017, to take forward commitments given in the Task Group report to consult on issues arising from their consideration. In particular, the consultation sought wider views on:

• The Task Group's Recommendation 1 on better arrangements to be put in place to improve board member recruitment; and
• The Task Group's Recommendation 9 on consideration of more sanctions so that a wider range of measures is available.

2.3 The consultation remained open for views until 17 May 2017, although the deadline was extended for some respondents past this date.

2.4 Responses to the consultation were encouraged via Citizen Space, which most respondents used.

Consultation responses

2.5 The Scottish Government received 39 responses to the consultation. Table 2.1 overleaf shows the distribution of responses by category of respondent. A full list of respondents is in Annex 1. The respondent category applied to each response was agreed with the Scottish Government policy team.

2.6 72% of responses were submitted by organisations; 28% were from individual respondents. The largest category of respondent amongst the organisations was colleges, comprising 26% of all responses.

Analysis of responses

2.7 The analysis of responses is presented in the following 3 chapters, which follow the order of topics raised in the consultation document. The consultation posed 16 key questions, all but one containing both closed and open elements.

2.8 The analysis is based on the views of those who responded to the consultation and are not necessarily representative of the wider population.

Table 2.1 Distribution of responses by category of respondent

*Percentages may not add to totals exactly due to rounding.