Review of further education governance in Scotland

K. Transition

What this review recommends is radical and fundamental change to the FE Sector across Scotland. All will see some change but some more than others, and some will in effect start again in terms of governance and structure.

Having looked at and discussed the process of change with those that have been through this both in Scotland and elsewhere we have come to the conclusion that this is such a big change, that should our recommendations be accepted, it needs to be managed effectively and centrally if it is to achieve the desired outcome. We have also put together a list of what we have seen as best practice in mergers which is Annexe L which we hope can provide useful guidance to others.

Central management does not and will not mean the centre deciding everything, or indeed anything in certain cases, but providing the specialist help and advice to ensure that the move to the new structure is done consistently and with the same help and framework everywhere.

We would recommend therefore that

A central team is formed to manage the process of change across the sector and work with the new Chairs and Boards, once recruited, to deliver their initial outcomes. The ' FE Change Team' would report to the Cabinet Secretary and his senior officials in terms of its work. It would also control the transition funding that will be needed to achieve these changes. It would be disbanded when the new structure is in place.

The composition of the team should be from the FE Sector itself, plus specialist help which will be needed in terms of HR and legal advice, SFC, Scottish Government officials, and representatives of both staff and the learner.

In terms of the sector we are in one of these odd moments in time where over the next few years a significant number of experienced Principals are due to retire. The experience of some of these would be invaluable to the Change Team and could be accommodated given that they are moving on anyway.

However even with this team in place there are timescale restraints which would be difficult or wrong to circumvent, namely

• Chair and Board Appointments - The appointments process will take 6 months on average to put new Chairs and Boards in place.
• Appointment of Principal - If this is done correctly to the process we recommend then it will take at minimum 3 months from the time of the appointment of the Board to appoint a new Principal.
• Outcomes Auditing - Having discussed this with both Education Scotland, who are reviewing their inspection framework for the FE Sector in 2012 anyway, as well as Audit Scotland, Education Scotland estimates it would take all of 2012 to develop and put in place an effective system to audit Boards and the sector in the new way we suggest.
• Funding - We understand that while there is a drive to put the new regional funding model in place by financial year 2012/13 this will cause challenges for the sector which may make it impossible or not practical in its totality in that year.
• FE Sector Management Information Systems ( MIS) - Both the changes to funding plus the move to outcome-driven measures for both Boards and funding will mean a fundamental change to the information that Colleges and those auditing them will have to collect. This would be true for the proposed changes to funding as much as it is for the new governance requirements. Since this will require major changes to all the current systems we recommend that
  A new national MIS system be developed and implemented which satisfies all the changes that this new structure for the College Sector will entail.
• Legislation - It is likely that some of our recommendations will need legislation, possibly going as far as the repeal of Part 1 of the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992 and its replacement by legislation which incorporates the new style of institution recommended in this report. If that were the case it could take at least a year for those to be implemented.

Therefore, even with this team in place, trying to do everything at once may not be effective or possible. Some of the geographies we have recommended are already moving forward anyway, so will already have a pace of their own which the Change Team will need to now meld into the new way of working we propose. The pace and desire now coming from some should be used as a driver for the others and we should set a target date, once all the above timings are finalised. We believe that academic year 2013/14 should be the initial target for as much as possible to be in place, with 2014/15 being the year for full completion, unless otherwise agreed as the implementation process rolls out.

However accepting all that, we suggest that the Change Team is established as soon as possible and that it follows three paths

A. With those Colleges that are already in the process of coming together into the regions that we recommend, that the Team works with them to meld what they are currently doing into the new system we recommend. This initial group can also provide a good testing ground for the process so that we can learn from and refine it for the ones that follow. Edinburgh appears the most advanced at present, and we understand that they would be keen to be part of this process and a 'pilot'.

B. With those which are either not well advanced or will need to fundamentally rethink where they are, then the Change Team to work with them to put in place the new system that will satisfy their new region.

C. Where nothing or little is changing in terms of the impact of regionalisation, then the Change Team works with the existing Board to see how other changes can be done in a way that has as little negative impact as possible.

The need to have as little negative impact as possible applies to everywhere, which is why the roles of the existing Chairs and Boards and Chairs are critical in making the change work smoothly.

Also since the new Chairs are the key to the success of the new structure in terms of driving the process, then recruiting them should be a key initial task. This means that even the Chairs of Colleges where there will be no change in the geographic responsibility would also resign as soon as appropriate, so that all the Chairs across the sector are chosen and put in place by the same process and with the same objectives. Whether the entire Boards of those unaffected Colleges should resign as well is an issue on which we are undecided at present as we can see pros and cons in either way. Boards would change but should we allow that to happen naturally, or instead have all of the College Boards recruited in the same manner right away?

We believe that the sector is ready for the change but needs specific dates to aim for if Colleges are all to come together in the way we recommend in as short a time as possible. This will then minimise any disruption of the sector or the learner, which is where we started this report.