The Auditor General for Scotland has called on the Scottish Government to take “urgent” action to ensure progress is made on improving how workforce skills are planned and provided.
Stephen Boyle also found that the government has not provided the necessary leadership for joint working with Skills Development Scotland (SDS) and the Scottish Funding Council (SFC).
In 2017, the Scottish Government, SDS and the SFC agreed to work towards skills alignment – a more integrated approach to equipping people with the workforce skills Scotland needs.
Boyle explained the government failed to provide clarity on what it wanted to achieve and what success would look like.
In addition, SDS and the SFC have not been able to agree how integrated approaches to skills planning should work. Together, they spend over £2bn each year on training and post-school education.
Current arrangements are unlikely to achieve the Scottish Government's ambitions for skills alignment at the pace required, according to the auditor.
Boyle called on the government to set out its strategic aims and objectives for skills alignment, and how progress will be measured - adding that it should agree with SDS and the SFC how they will work together to deliver shared outcomes.
Boyle said: “The Scottish Government recognises that workforce skills are central to inclusive and sustainable economic recovery and growth, but it has not provided the leadership needed to deliver on its skills alignment agenda.
“As a result, the anticipated benefits have not been achieved and opportunities for more efficient and effective investment have been missed.
"The Scottish Government now urgently needs to set out what it intends to achieve and how it will measure progress, as well as clarifying the governance and oversight arrangements for skills alignment activity."
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