HC Deb 08 December 1998 vol 322 cc130-2
3. Mrs. Maria Fyfe (Glasgow, Maryhill)

What plans he has to review the organisation and management of further education, with particular reference to industrial relations issues. [61265]

The Minister for Education, Scottish Office (Mrs. Helen Liddell)

The Government have asked the further education sector to play a leading role in the delivery of our key programmes for education, social inclusion and competitiveness and we are increasing expenditure in the sector by £214 million over the next three years. To ensure that that money meets the challenges that the Government have set the sector, I intend to ask the new Scottish Further Education Funding Council to review the management of further education colleges. I will announce a detailed remit for the review shortly.

Mrs. Fyfe

That is excellent news which will be widely welcomed. Will my right hon. Friend say whether, as part of the review, the restoration of the national negotiating machinery will be considered? That machinery was taken apart by the previous Government, despite the fact that they were warned about the likely consequences in places such as Motherwell college. Responsible and experienced trade unionists, who knew what they were talking about, told the then Government what the results would be, but their views were ignored.

Mrs. Liddell

I take my hon. Friend's point about bargaining in further education colleges. There is a mixed message across Scotland about the impact of localised bargaining, but I have no doubt that the review board will consider the matter and come to conclusions on it. As she knows, I have no specific locus in industrial relations matters, but I recently visited Motherwell college, where I asked both management and the trade unions to resolve their difficulties as quickly as possible. The only people who suffer in such situations are the students, who are all working extremely hard.

Mr. Ian Bruce (South Dorset)

Does the right hon. Lady see any problems with the difference between the supposed increases in expenditure on school teachers and the salaries available to people in further education? The Government have clearly tried to accelerate the amount of funding per pupil in schools, but the same is not true of further education.

Mrs. Liddell

I really wish the Opposition Whips would brief Conservative Members better. If the hon. Gentleman had listened more closely, he would have heard me say that £214 million extra was going into further education over the next three years. Further education is at the heart of the Government's plans for lifelong learning, and we are greatly encouraged by the breadth of experience of lecturers in further education colleges and the role that they are playing in meeting the Government's challenges.

Mrs. Irene Adams (Paisley, North)

I, too, congratulate my right hon. Friend on the review of further education colleges, especially because of the difficulties that we have had in Renfrewshire with Reid Kerr college in my constituency. Will she ask the review board to consider how the new deal is working in further education colleges? I have heard complaints that new dealers have been turned away in favour of more lucrative students.

Mrs. Liddell

That is an interesting question—I know that my hon. Friend is concerned about the matter. We have invited consultants to look at the operation of Reid Kerr college. We have made it plain to the further education sector that it has a responsibility to its conventional students as well as to those students who have come in under the new deal. I hope shortly to publish the strategic framework for further education, which will take into account some of the structural issues that are causing colleges to compete perhaps needlessly.

Mr. Alasdair Morgan (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale)

In view of the dissatisfaction with local pay bargaining in further education to which the hon. Member for Glasgow, Maryhill (Mrs. Fyfe) referred, will the right hon. Lady undertake not to introduce similar arrangements in secondary education?

Mrs. Liddell

The millennium review completed its discussions on salary levels in our schools a short time ago. The review is currently negotiating the role of local authorities as employers with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities. I am hopeful that, at the end of that process, there will be a settlement for Scotland's teachers that rewards all teachers in a way that recognises their talents. At the moment, there are no proposals on the table for the introduction of localised bargaining.

Mr. Malcolm Bruce (Gordon)

Will the Minister accept that the £2 million real-terms cut in funding for the three north-east colleges of further education has placed a real question mark over the Government's commitment to "education, education, education"? Does she acknowledge that the cut has led to sudden, abrupt changes in timetables, which are deeply damaging to the students and cause great unhappiness to the lecturers, who are not even consulted in advance?

Mrs. Liddell

As the hon. Gentleman is no doubt aware, we inherited a £5 million public expenditure cut in further education colleges. This year alone, we have increased expenditure by £12.4 million. Early in the new year, I will announce the settlements for colleges, including those in the north. The Government have shown our commitment to further education by giving it the place in the education system that it deserves, and by increasing expenditure on further education across Scotland.