The Scottish Government has been accused of treating the nation’s struggling colleges with “contempt and neglect” after new figures showed funding has been slashed by more than 10 per cent in just two years.
Stark statistics produced by Colleges Scotland revealed that overall revenue support for the sector had fallen from £732.8m in 2021/22 to £696.3m in 2022/23, before being reduced again to £658.6m this year.
The figures, which do not take account of high inflation and rising costs, have emerged as thousands of college lecturers and support staff take strike action over pay.
Conservative education spokesman Liam Kerr claimed ministers had taken a “very deliberate decision” to starve colleges of cash.
Scotland’s 24 colleges play a key role in society and the economy, currently educating more than 236,000 students, including a quarter of school leavers, and a high proportion from poorer backgrounds.
However, many institutions are drawing up plans to axe jobs amid escalating costs and financial pressures, made worse by a U-turn by ministers in May which led to the withdrawal of a promised £26m uplift.
Trade unions have urged ministers to intervene to resolve the current pay dispute in a way that avoids job losses.
The Audit Scotland study said that Scottish Government revenue budgets for colleges comprised £675.7 million in each of 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24 – which was a real-terms cut of 8.5 per cent, after inflation was factored in.
