Current status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 1 December 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support vocational courses offered by Perth College that provide training in skills which support the rural economy.
The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the current and future skills needs of the rural economy. We are integrating consideration of skills for rural Scotland into mainstream skills policy development and delivery, including the Post School Education and Skills Reform (PSESR) programme. This approach follows the delivery of the Skills Action Plan for Rural Scotland (2019) that produced better alignment of skills delivery to skills needs in the rural economy.
The Scottish Government funds Lantra Scotland to contribute to increasing the number and diversity of skilled employees in the land-based, aquaculture and environmental conservation sectors.
Operational decisions such as course provision are a matter for individual colleges. However, in recognition that Scotland’s colleges are a vital part of our economy and wider society, the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) allocations provide a 2.6% sector increase in teaching funding for 2025-26 compared to last year, with an increase of almost 5% in capital maintenance funding over the same period.