Why an SNP minister is ready to talk about £3bn education reforms and how they will impact hundreds of staff

As the SNP minister in charge of overseeing Scotland’s further and higher education institutions, Graeme Dey is no stranger to feelings of frustration.

In recent months, he has become a lightening rod for the anger of college workers who find it inexplicable that the Government will seemingly step in to resolve almost every other industrial dispute except their own, increasingly bitter battle.

And Mr Dey is also the minister who must tell the nation’s university principals that his administration will not budge on its commitment to free tuition, despite repeatedly demonstrating it does not have the money to properly fund it.

But what has also been irking the former journalist is his inability to speak openly about an area of Government business where he believes real progress is being made.

“I guess a frustration from me over the last six months has been that we haven’t been able to fully articulate what has been going on,” says the further and higher education minister.

“I think we are in a position now where we are able to articulate that.”

Mr Dey is speaking to The Scotsman in his first in-depth interview since being appointed to the role by Humza Yousaf in March 2023.

He is referring to one of the most significant reforms being driven forward by the Government, but it is also one most people have never heard of.

One reason for that is that it is complicated, with an “enormous number of workstreams” involved, and another may be the way the language used to describe it.

Even with the best will, phrases like the “skills delivery landscape”, or “post-school skills reform”, are not attention-grabbers for the masses.

But the implications of what is being proposed are far-reaching, fundamentally altering the way £3.2billion of taxpayers money is spent on universities, colleges and apprenticeships, while overhauling the way the nation’s workforce is shaped to help drive the future economy.

The impact, meanwhile, could be particularly acute for employees at the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), Skills Development Scotland (SDS), and Students Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS).

Ministers are currently consulting on reform options, one of which would lead to the “dissolution” of SAAS, with the SFC assuming full responsibility for all further and higher education student support and funding.  

Alternatively, SAAS could remain and take over all college student support funding and functions from the SFC, which would instead be handed responsibility for national training programmes from SDS.  After that decision has been made, it is possible the next step could be further mergers to establish a single national funding body, as was recommended by James Withers, a former chief executive of Scotland Food & Drink, in his landmark report into the future of the post-school skills landscape, published in June 2023.

As with much of the Scottish Government’s wider programme of education reform, progress has appeared painfully slow, but Mr Dey insists changes are coming.

“The reform agenda has been under discussion since James published his report. That was against a backdrop of recommendations that looked at the system and said, this is not as efficient as it needs to be. I think everyone would agree with that,” he says.

“We’ve embarked on that journey with a view to simplifying that system, making it much more accessible for our colleges to understand as well as our students, because when you have a system where colleges can access 80 different funding pots, that is not sensible.”

He adds: “It has to become more linked to the needs of the economy and the employers, and by doing that, it has to offer our young people a more sustainable future.”

A shake-up of foundation, modern and graduate apprenticeships is also being examined.

Mr Dey says: “We are not really joining them up where they could be joined, and that is one of the opportunities that arises from what we’re trying to do with the consultation.”

The minister is adamant that the reforms will make the system more efficient, but they are also designed to save money.

“Will it generate savings? Yes, we believe it will. There is duplication in the system, pronounced duplication,” he says.

Mr Dey admits employees at SAAS, SFC, and SDS will be concerned about what the reforms will mean for their jobs.

“We’ve sought as far as we can to reassure the staff. What I’ve said to them, and I mean it, is we will not deliver the kind of change we are looking for without a motivated workforce. They will be at the heart of this,” he says.

“What I recognise is, it’s a time of uncertainty, and it’s very unfair on the staff. If you imagine, Withers reported, that created uncertainty, then the period of time as we worked through our thinking has been uncertain.

“We’ve launched a consultation that refers to three agencies, that creates uncertainty as well, so I’m trying to engage with the staff cohorts and say, we’ll try to move as quickly as we can when the consultation is finished, to signal what we’re going to do, and the timescale we’re going to work to.”

Pressed on whether the reforms will reduce staff numbers, Mr Dey points to the potential for further changes in future.

“I wouldn’t want to prejudge the consultation, but my instinct is that, having looked at the nuts and bolts of all of this - the people, the change - it is probably wisest to do this in two stages,” he said.

“So to bring all the apprenticeship funding in one place and develop the offering to get it right. And to have the student funding in one place.

“And once we’ve got that ironed out, and we’re clear, then you would make a decision about should you merge it as James has suggested, or does it work well as it is?

“That would be for future parliaments to determine.”