Fife College: budget cuts limit access to training for Fifers, MP warns

Melanie Ward, MP for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy, said Fifers were being treated as “second class” and were being denied the same access to skills and training as those in other parts of Scotland.

The issue of funding was flagged last month after Jim Metcalfe, principal, said it was one of the losers in recent changes implemented by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) - and the immediate effect was a further defunding of £1.3million. He spelled out the road ahead in an email to all senior councillors, MPs and MSPs.

Speaking during a Westminster Hall debate, Ms Ward warned that continued cuts to the college’s budget are “unacceptable.”

She said: “Fife College does hugely important work, but it has had its budget slashed by 20% over the last three years by the SNP Scottish Government.” She said local people “deserve the same opportunities to learn new skills as those in every other part of Scotland.”

Anna Dixon MP who led the Westminster Hall debate on Government support for further education institutions replied: “It is incumbent to make sure that all children and adults have the opportunities to learn and continue to update their skills.”

It wasn’t the first time Ms. Ward has raised concerns about the future of further education in Fife. She has repeatedly called for fairer investment to support skills, training, and job creation in her constituency.

Her latest comments follow a warning from Veterans Minister Al Carns, who recently said that lack of investment in the region could lead to Fife missing out on vital defence contracts.

Ms Ward added: “Fife College is a key part of our community’s future, delivering training that supports everything from renewables to defence manufacturing. These cuts are not just unfair, they’re a barrier to opportunity and growth. People in Fife should not be treated as second class.”

She has urged both the Scottish and UK Governments to recognise the strategic importance of Fife and commit to properly funding the skills institutions that underpin its economy.

In his briefing to politicians last month, Mr Metcalfe said Fife College was “a highly responsible and resilient college” but warned: “The scale of the challenge now created by these changes is clearly precipitous.”

The college has started an essential review of courses, services, and its operating model “to ensure its financial sustainability”, and the principal warned: “This will have implications for our staff team, the scale of our academic provision, and the accessibility of our campus facilities across Fife. “

The college runs campuses for 20,000 students across five communities from Dunfermline to Kirkcaldy, Glenrothes, Levenmouth and Rosyth.

Mr Metcalfe said: “No regional college could withstand this discontinuity between real cost increases and diminishing income, after a sustained period of underfunding. Colleges no longer retain the reserves required to manage through periods of heightened financial risk, like the one we now face.

“We will keep working with our funding partners to make clear the challenge posed by this approach – both to sustainability, and also to the future prospects for a skilled economy for Fife. We are also highlighting the immediacy of the impact. Your support in continuing to make those points is hugely appreciated.”

Mr Metcalfe said the SCF communicated its intention to change the funding model for college education several months ago.

“In the SFC and Scottish Government’s own words, this process would produce ‘winners and losers.’. Unfortunately, Fife has been deemed one of those colleges to be at detriment through this approach.

“The immediate effect - as confirmed in the final funding allocations for colleges published last week - is a further defunding of £1.3m in annual learning and teaching investment for Fife in the coming year. This compounds the effect of a 19.8% real terms reduction in our core budgeting over the last three years. “ He said the SFC also has plans to further reduce learning and teaching funding to Fife over the period 2026 - which would widen its funding gap.

The funding concerns came as the college revealed how the first year of ts action plan for improvements had made huge strides

Early withdrawal of students has halved to 3.2% - the lowest since 2016 and an extra 300-plus students who in previous years might have dropped out of education early are now progressing through their courses to further study and work.

The percentage of students successfully completing their courses is up by 10% while applications to study at Fife are 5% higher year on year, and courses are oversubscribed for the first time this decade.