UHI Rural and Islands College merger proposal: consultation analysis

3. Overview Of Respondents

A total of 21 written responses were received.

Eighteen of the responses were submitted to the consultation on Citizenspace. Three of the responses were received by email and were sent directly to the lead policy official. An elected representative, Kate Forbes – MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, also wrote to the Minister, expressing strong support for the proposal. No responses were received by post.

Of the 21 total responses, 19 have been published on the Scottish Government website. Most respondents were happy to have their views, published, though 10 of the 13 individuals who responded wished their responses to be published anonymously. All responses have been included in this analysis. The published responses can be accessed here:

Published responses for Rural and Islands College Merger proposal: Consultation - Scottish Government - Citizen Space

The consultation has attracted 21 responses: 13 from individuals; and 8 from organisations.

A full list of organisations that responded can be found at Annex A.

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar did not respond to the consultation. However, as the legislation requires consultation with the relevant education authority they were contacted, after the consultation closed, to ensure they had no comments. The council referred us to the letter they had submitted to the consultation, run by the merging colleges, which ran from August until October 2022. The points they made in this letter were, in the main, also raised by other consultation respondees. The only significant points that were made by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar that were not made by other respondees, were around the functional 15-24 Learner Journey and Progression Pathways/Assessment for Prior Learning. The full text of the letter, submitted by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar to the merging colleges’ consultation can be found at Annex B.

The Gaelic Board submitted a response prior to the consultation closing on 5 May. They came back on 23^rd May to indicate they wished to amend their response; it is now more strongly supportive of the proposal. This late response has been included at Annex C.