Post-school education, research and skills - interim purpose and principles: discussion guide

Principle Five – Transparent, Resilient and Trusted

This section will support session participants to consider the principle of "Transparent, Resilient and Trusted" and the policy options available to support the delivery of this principle in Scotland today and in the future.

Question 5.1

• Do you agree with inclusion of and language of the principle of Transparent, Resilient and Trusted?

Question 5.2

• The principle is about how the ecosystem is structured and ensuring that everyone understands what the system delivers, who is delivering and how that happens.
• How do you think we can best build a transparent, resilient and trusted ecosystem to support successful research and learner journeys?

Principle Five – Facilitators Notes

• Section Five allows participants to consider the principle of "Transparent, Resilient and Trusted".
• Facilitators are encouraged to support groups to discuss the questions before summarising and sharing the output of their discussions.
• Depending on the group, the two questions could be discussed in turn, or alternatively the participants could be grouped and allocated different questions to explore.

Question 5.1, could be considered in two parts:

• 5.1 (a) Do you agree that this is an important principle that should be included as part of the Purpose and Principles?
• 5.1 (b) Do you have any thoughts on the language or framing of this principle?

In considering question 5.1, participants could be provided with the following scaffolding to support their thinking and any discussion. For example:

• What does transparent, resilient and trusted mean to you in your role in the broader ecosystem or Scotland's wellbeing economy more generally?
• Is this the right description of the principle of transparent, resilient and trusted? Is there anything missing that you would expect to see?

Question 5.2, could be considered in two parts:

• 5.2 (a) What kind of structures would need to be in place to have a transparent, resilient and trusted ecosystem? This could include things like governance structures, reporting mechanisms, setting of government policy, representation of staff and students on boards, split of roles and responsibilities between government, agencies and institutions.
• 5.2 (b) Do you have any examples of good practice of this principle or identifiable areas for improvement?

In considering question 5.2, participants could be provided with the following scaffolding to support their thinking and any discussion. For example:

• How do we measure ecosystem level outcomes? How do we ensure these are transparent and aligned to needs? How to move from measuring input into the ecosystem to the impact of the ecosystem? How do we maintain assurance and accountability whilst giving greater flexibility around the form delivery takes?
• How can we make the pathways simpler and more transparent for users and help them to make better informed choices about where they will lead?
• What should governance across and within the ecosystem look like? This could include considering user representation, union representation, ensuring responsibility is happening in the right place.
• How do we support the ecosystem to feel trusted to deliver? How do elements of the ecosystem work together to align delivery? Are people empowered to act to deliver better outcomes?
• How can government and Non-departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs) best signal core investment priorities including tackling child poverty, delivering a prosperous wellbeing economy and delivering the transition to net zero? Should we have an investment hierarchy for post-school education, skills and research?