Independent Commission for the Land-based Learning Review report - SG response: implementation plan

Introduction

The Commission for the Review of Land-based Learning’s remit was to provide Ministers with evidence-based recommendations to attract and equip more people, particularly women and young people, with the skills and knowledge needed to work in the land-based and aquaculture sectors by improving learning pathways. Their report was submitted to Scottish Ministers on 18 January 2023.

The Scottish Government published its response to the Review on 30 April 2024, which gave a commitment to publish an Implementation Plan to action the 21 recommendations which were all either accepted or accepted in principle (Recommendation 6 has been completed). This Implementation Plan sets the main Outputs, Implementing Actions, Timescales and Milestones for delivering the response to the recommendations. Delivery of these recommendations involves Scottish Government policy teams working with stakeholder organisations, which is fundamental to, and supports existing work priorities and commitments.

The recommendations, and so our response to them, vary in their scope and scale; ranging from specific, practical changes to being part of broader policy and delivery. For this Implementation Plan, we have set out outputs, actions and timescales as far as possible at this time. In some cases, further exploratory or other policy development work is required, particularly in a changing policy context.

The Actions, Timescales and Milestones in this Implementation Plan will provide the basis for monitoring progress and enable us to meet Recommendation 15 by undertaking an annual review of progress, with the first progress report to be published in spring 2025.

We will monitor the impacts on actions there may be from the budget-related decisions taken in the extremely challenging financial position.

The response to the Land-based Learning Review and Implementation Plan is aligned towards achieving Scotland’s National outcomes. Economic growth requires addressing the opportunities and challenges relating to labour and skills shortages across Scotland. The actions in this plan aim to support skilling and upskilling to deliver green solutions in the agriculture, forestry, aquaculture and environmental sectors. This will be important in building prosperous rural areas and a Just Transition to Net Zero, contributing to the First Minister’s priorities on Boosting the Economy and Tackling Climate Change.

Context - Post-school Education Reform

We continue to recognise that the Scottish Government’s response to the Land-based Learning Review will be progressed in a context where there is an ongoing programme of work to reform the post-school education and skills system.

As part of that reform programme, the Scottish Government has committed to taking responsibility for skills planning at the national level, while strengthening regional approaches. A Scottish Government led skills planning approach will help develop a better understanding of skills needs at the national level and how we can better address them, particularly where solutions lie within the education and skills system.

This skills planning work will be critical in ensuring that the system is more responsive and in a better position to meet our economic, environmental and social needs and ambitions.

The wider change of this cannot be fully anticipated now, but developing the education and skills system, could impact the actions and timescales in the Implementation Plan and these may need to be revised.