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The report on the evaluation of Out to Play Improve, initially named as the Outdoor Learning Practicum, was published on the Scottish Government Children and Young People Improvement Collaborative website in November 2022, and can be found here .

The Programme for Government 2023-24 set out major new commitments on childcare including how we will test, for the first time, what an all-age childcare system will look like for Scotland in six councils.

We will work closely with those communities, our partners, and providers to consider how the early learning and school age childcare workforce can support these systems, and what they will need to do so. This will include consideration of regulatory issues, qualifications and professional development, which will take time to do fully and is why we will now set out our plans in 2024.

In the meantime, we will continue to work with the Framework Steering Group and other partners to support delivery of the actions being developed as part of the original plan. We have, for example, already developed a range of new learning resources, implemented a Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) fee waiver and are starting work on a new national portal for professional learning.

A Tripartite Alignment Group has been established to foster close, partnership working between the Scottish Government, the Scottish Funding Council and Colleges Scotland.

The purpose of this group is to focus on urgent pressures facing colleges and put in place the building blocks to tackle more complex, systemic issues which will be the subject of the wider programme of reform expressed through the Withers Review and underpinned by the Purpose and Principles.

Following on from recommendations made in recent reviews, the Scottish Government has also set out in the Programme for Government its intention to lead the development of a new funding model for post-school education provision. We will work closely with colleges, and others, in determining how we can use funding allocations to deliver improved outcomes.

We welcome Audit Scotland’s report on Scotland’s colleges. It recognises the opportunities coming from reform of post-school education, as signalled in the Purpose and Principles for Post-School Education, Research and Skills published on 28 June 2023, which can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/post-school-education-research-skills-purpose-principles/ .

On 28 June 2023, the Scottish Government published the Purpose and Principles for post-school education, research and skills setting out our long-term vision for the system and the outcomes that we want to achieve. This includes our focus on delivering a system that is financially and environmentally resilient, trusted to deliver, and subject to effective governance. In the Initial Priorities Paper that accompanied the Purpose and Principles we acknowledged that reform of current funding arrangements is needed to realise this ambition.

Drawing on the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Skills Delivery Landscape, the Scottish Government has committed in the 2023 -24 Programme for Government to lead development of a new funding model for post-school education and skills provision alongside setting out plans for implementing reform of our education and skills bodies. The Scottish Government are committed to continuing to work closely with colleges throughout the development and implementation of our programme of reforms to ensure that the changes that we put in place will deliver enhanced outcomes for people and places across Scotland.

The Scottish Government regularly meets with the Scottish Funding Council to discuss a range of matters.

We recognise the financial challenges facing colleges and understand the need for greater flexibility in college sector funding. The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) implemented a series of flexibilities for colleges in both academic years 2022-23, and 2023-24.

The Scottish Government and SFC are working with the sector to explore whether there are further flexibilities that could assist the sector in the short to medium term, while ensuring robust public accountability is safeguarded.

We recognise the financial challenges facing colleges. We have committed to providing greater flexibility for institutions in how they use the investment that is available and autonomy to set ambitious, stretch targets for delivery. We are working closely with Colleges Scotland and Scottish Funding Council in a Tripartite Alignment group to seek constructive approaches to financial flexibilities. The Purpose and Principles for Post-School Education, Research and Skills published on 28 June 2023, developed in collaboration with stakeholders, sets out our long-term ambition for the sector. This can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/post-school-education-research-skills-purpose-principles/ .

Despite the most difficult public spending environment since devolution, we maintained college resource budgets for 2023-24 at 2022-23 levels. The Audit Scotland report highlights that challenges and opportunities lie ahead as a result. The Scottish Funding Council also provided greater flexibility in the funding for colleges for academic year 2023-24.

In order to determine the number and distribution of the additional graduate posts across local authorities, datasets are used from the Care Inspectorate on the postcode location of Early Learning and Childcare settings, as well as the latest Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation.

The most disadvantaged areas are defined by the latest Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), which identifies the 20% most deprived postcode areas in Scotland. Funding for Equity and Excellence Leads has been allocated to local authorities based on their share of the nurseries located in the 20% most deprived postcode areas, according to Care Inspectorate data on the location of nurseries. To ensure that this commitment benefits as many children as possible local authorities have flexibility to draw on their local data to prioritise how they allocate their additional teachers or graduates across settings.

The 3 local authorities without a nursery in the 20% most deprived postcode areas (Orkney, Shetland, and Western Isles) each receive funding for 1 additional full-time equivalent (FTE) teacher or graduate.