To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will encourage and fund colleges to offer business management courses to people with a skill who wish to set up their own business.

As the largest provider of lifelong learning in Scotland, the further education sector has a vital role in helping to deliver many of the Executive’s policy priorities, including those to re-establish Scotland’s entrepreneurial drive and to increase the number of new businesses and growing businesses. In considering matters of demand and supply, including the provision of skills to people wanting to set up their own business, the Scottish Executive encourages colleges to be vibrant and responsive.

The Scottish Executive does not fund further education colleges directly. That is the responsibility of the Scottish Further Education Funding Council (SFEFC). Under the terms of the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992, colleges of further education are independent bodies responsible for determining, among other things, their own curriculum. Whether a course of a specific type is available at a particular college is therefore a matter for the board of management of the college concerned.

In addition, general support is available to individuals wishing to start a business from the enterprise networks.