SNP's disdain for apprentices just shows their lack of economic understanding
A growing economy needs investment in colleges and apprenticeships, but the SNP has instead chosen to slash their funding
The Conservative party conference launched on Sunday under the slogan “Stronger economy, stronger borders”. It is a well-chosen set of words. Polling evidence shows that the two major concerns that voters have are, firstly, around jobs and disposable incomes, and secondly over uncontrolled and illegal migration.
While these two issues overlap, it is the former that is of greater importance. For without a stronger economy, we cannot have the secure well-paid jobs that all should aspire for, growing and successful businesses, a healthy society, and the tax revenues needed to fund our vital public services.
As Conservatives, in Scotland as well as across the UK, we believe economic growth has to be the first priority of government. And when it comes to spending decisions taken in relation to the extensive resources under the Scottish Government’s control, there needs to be a focus on expenditure which will actively contribute towards economic growth.
Job cuts loom
Against that backdrop, the recent report on Scotland’s colleges by Audit Scotland contains some stark and concerning messages. According to the independent spending watchdog, college funding has suffered from a 20 per cent real terms cut in spending over the past five years. We see the consequences of this evident on every college campus in Scotland.
The report states that the college sector workforce contracted by some 8 per cent in 2023-24. In the region I represent, Fife College is expressing concern about the availability of future courses, and UHI Perth College has to save some £4 million by mid-2025 and has had to close the campus nursery and library whilst contemplating staff redundancies and cutting “unviable” courses.
Meanwhile, Forth Valley College is proposing closing its popular and busy Alloa Campus, meaning any Clackmannanshire students would have to travel to Stirling for further education, leaving a substantial black hole in the town centre.
The SNP cannot blame these cuts on Westminster funding or a lack of resources. In the same period that college payments were reduced by 20 per cent in real terms, the Scottish Government budget saw a real terms increase of 2.5 per cent. These closures and cutbacks are entirely down to choices made by the SNP, deprioritising the training of the future workforce that our colleges provide.
READ MORE: Scottish theatre institute goes into liquidation, leaving students 'in the dark' over degree courses
Shortage of apprentices
Some, but not all, apprenticeships are delivered through our colleges, yet already there are concerns about the shortage of apprenticeship places. In 2024/25, learning providers requested around 34,000 places, but the Scottish Government funded just over 25,000 in the same period, a substantial gap.
The trade body Engineering Scotland estimates that 20 per cent of skills demand from employers has been unmet due to real-terms funding cuts to apprenticeships, whilst elsewhere businesses express concern about a growing skills gap. The 2025 Open University Business Barometer Report states that 56 per cent of Scottish businesses are experiencing skills shortages, while 39 per cent expect the skills gap to worsen in the next five years.
The number of extra construction workers needed in Scotland for 2025-29 is estimated at 3,590 a year. Yet we simply do not have the number of apprenticeship places available to provide training to meet that demand. In the words of Michelle Ferguson, director of CBI Scotland, “Scottish apprenticeships will be critical in building the future workforce”, but we are not providing enough of them.
Universities better funded than colleges
There is encouraging rhetoric coming from the Scottish Government about the need to promote a “parity of esteem” between different learning routes. Apprenticeships are as valuable to our future economy as university degrees, but the former get less attention and much lower funding. Figures from the Scottish Funding Council show that for the 2024-25 financial year, funding per college student was £5,054, while the equivalent sum for those at university was £7,558.
The other bone of contention for employers is the Apprenticeship Levy, raised on a UK-wide basis and redistributed to the Scottish Government via the Barnett Formula. Larger employers in England are able to reclaim this money, depending on the number of training places they provide, but the same does not apply in Scotland.
According to one estimate, some £875m was raised by employers in Scotland from the apprenticeship levy between 2020 and 2024, but in that same time only £704m was spent on apprenticeships, meaning a large proportion is disappearing into the black hole that is the Scottish Government’s finances.
So what needs to be done? There is a broader debate to be had around the whole structure and funding of post-school learning, including the future of our universities (which are themselves suffering from a financial crisis due to a reduction in the number of overseas students and inadequate Scottish Government funding). But what needs to underpin that is an understanding that the needs of our future economy will depend on providing workers with training in the necessary skills.
Meeting the economy’s needs
The SNP’s response is to mess around with quangos, transferring responsibility for apprenticeships and national programmes from Skills Development Scotland to the Scottish Funding Council. It is hard to find any stakeholder who believes this is the right move at the present time, and the transfer is likely to consume precious resources.
Instead, the priority needs to be providing adequate funding, both for college places and apprenticeships, with a particular focus on those courses that will meet the needs of the future economy. At a time when the Scottish Government’s budget is at record levels, there can be no justification for a 20 per cent real-terms cut in college support.
If we really do want a stronger economy, and surely that must be the ambition of all governments, then we do need to see skills and apprenticeships given priority. That is the outcome the Conservatives will push for, even if the SNP won’t.
Murdo Fraser is a Scottish Conservative MSP for Mid-Scotland and Fife
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.