College Development Plans

Orders of the Day — Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Bill – in the House of Commons at 4:15 pm on 5 February 1992.

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'.—(1) Every board of management shall, not later than such date in every financial year as the Secretary of State may determine, submit to the Secretary of State a college development plan in respect of their college.(2) The college development plan shall be prepared in respect of the academic year commencing in the next following financial year and the succeeding two academic years.(3) The college development plan shall contain a statement of—

  1. (a) the number of persons the board estimates will be students of the college;
  2. (b) the programmes of learning of further education (within the meaning of section 1(5)(b) of the 1980 Act) which the board proposes to provide or secure the provision of;
  3. (c) the capital expenditure proposed by the board and their estimate of the recurrent expenditure and income of the college; and
  4. (d) such other matters as may be determined by the Secretary of State, as regards each academic year to which the plan relates.
(4) In preparing their development plan, a board of management—
  1. (a) shall have regard to any guidance issued to them by the Secretary of State; and
  2. (b) shall consult with the education authority in whose area the college is situated and the local enterprise company for the area in which the college is situated, and in this subsection 'local enterprise company' has the meaning given by paragraph 3(5) of Schedule 1 to this Act.
(5) A development plan prepared in pursuance of this section shall be in such form as the Secretary of State may determine.(6) Any power of the Secretary of State under this section to make a determination may be exercised differently in respect of different colleges.'.—[Mr. Michael Forsyth.]

Brought up, and read the First time.

5 pm

Photo of Mr Michael Forsyth Mr Michael Forsyth , Stirling

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

Photo of Mr Paul Dean Mr Paul Dean , Woodspring

With this, it will be convenient to consider amendment No. 66, in clause 8, page 5, line 3, at end insert 'and to this end the board of management shall be required to provide an annual college development plan, which plan shall be submitted to the education authority and the local enterprise company in whose area the college is situated for consultation.'.

Photo of Mr Michael Forsyth Mr Michael Forsyth , Stirling

The new clause fulfills an undertaking that I gave in Committee. I acknowledged the desirability of boards of management continuing to prepare college development plans. We had proposed to deal with that by making it a condition of grant, but to avoid ambiguity I am happy to make it a clear statutory requirement.

The plans will have to be prepared annually and will cover the next three full consecutive academic years. The contents of the plan will have to include such matters as a statement of the number of students expected to be enrolled at the college, the further education programmes that are proposed to be provided or arranged and financial estimates. In preparing the plan the board will have to consult the education authority and the local enterprise company for the college's area. I acknowledge that they have a legitimate interest. That consultation should prove valuable to the boards in drawing up their plans.

On the basis of the new clause, I invite Opposition Members not to move amendment No. 66, which has a similar effect.

Photo of Mr Tony Worthington Mr Tony Worthington , Clydebank and Milngavie

We are delighted that the Minister has moved the new clause and are therefore prepared not to move our amendment.

The proposals arose during our debates in Committee. We constantly referred to the importance of greater openness about what colleges are doing. All that we wanted was the Minister's assurance that the college development plans will be published and that people will have the opportunity to influence them. There should be no secrecy about them. I am glad to have received the Minister's wholehearted and enthusiastic assurance that these will be public documents and that people will be able to influence the operation of boards of management. Therefore, I welcome new clause 10.

Photo of Mr Tam Dalyell Mr Tam Dalyell , Linlithgow

On the question of commercial confidentiality, particularly in relation to subsection (4)(b) of new clause 10, do the Government recognise that in certain circumstances there could be a problem over maintaining commercial confidentiality in relation to local enterprise companies? Has that been taken into account?

Photo of Mr Michael Forsyth Mr Michael Forsyth , Stirling

There is always a dilemma between carrying out consultation and making as much information as possible public and maintaining commercial confidentiality. The normal rules would apply. Judgment would have to be exercised as to what should be classed as commercially confidential. We cannot, however, deal with that on the face of the Bill. It concerns the good conduct of business, which I am sure that we can trust the local authorities, the local enterprise companies and the boards of management of the colleges concerned to carry out.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause read a Second time, and added to the Bill.