Covering letter and consultation document are available in PDF format.
COVERING LETTER
Dear Sir/Madam,
CONSULTATION ON THE PROPOSED MERGER OF BELL COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY AND THE UNIVERSITY OF PAISLEY
We are inviting written responses, by 12 January 2007, to the consultation paper attached at page 2 which invites views on the proposed merger of Bell College of Technology and the University of Paisley.
Please send your comments and completed Respondent Information Form ( attached at Annex A) to:
Katherine Tierney
Scottish Executive
Enterprise, Transport & Lifelong Learning Department
Higher Education and Learner Support Division
Europa Building
450 Argyle Street
Glasgow G2 8LG
or by e-mail to: MergeBellPaisleyMailbox@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
If you have any queries please contact Katherine Tierney on 0141 242 0177.
We would be grateful if you could clearly indicate in your response which questions or parts of the consultation paper you are responding to as this will aid our analysis of the responses received.
This consultation, and all other Scottish Executive consultation exercises, can be viewed online on the consultation web pages of the Scottish Executive website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations. You can find out where your nearest public internet access point is by calling Freephone 0800 77 1234.
The Scottish Executive now has an email alert system for consultations (SEconsult: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations/seconsult.aspx). This system allows stakeholder individuals and organisations to register and receive a weekly email containing details of all new consultations (including web links). SEconsult complements, but in no way replaces SE distribution lists, and is designed to allow stakeholders to keep up to date with all SE consultation activity, and therefore be alerted at the earliest opportunity to those of most interest. We would encourage you to register.
Handling your response
We need to know how you wish your response to be handled and, in particular, whether you are happy for your response to be made public. Please complete and return the Respondent Information Form (attached at Annex A) as this will ensure that we treat your response appropriately. A Microsoft Word version of the form can be e-mailed to you on request. If you ask for your response not to be published we will regard it as confidential, and we will treat it accordingly.
All respondents should be aware that the Scottish Executive is subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and would therefore have to consider any request made to it under the Act for information relating to responses made to this consultation exercise.
Next steps in the process
Where respondents have given permission for their response to be made public (see the attached Respondent Information Form at Annex A), these will be made available to the public in the Scottish Executive Library and by 16 February 2007 on the Scottish Executive consultation web pages at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Consultations/Current. We will check all responses where agreement to publish has been given for any potentially defamatory material before logging them in the library or placing them on the website. You can make arrangements to view responses by contacting the SE Library on 0131 244 4565. Responses can be copied and sent to you, but a charge may be made for this service.
What happens next ?
Following the closing date, all responses will be analysed and considered along with advice from Scottish Higher and Further Education Funding Council and any other appropriate evidence. The information obtained will help formulate the Ministers' decision on the merger proposal. We aim to issue a report on this consultation process by 6 April 2007.
Comments and complaints
If you have any comments about how this consultation exercise has been conducted, please send them to:
Katherine Tierney
Scottish Executive
Enterprise, Transport & Lifelong Learning Department
Higher Education and Learners Support Division
Europa Building
450 Argyle Street
Glasgow G2 8LG
e-mail: katherine.tierney@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
Gill Troup
Head of Division
24 October 2006
ANNEX A
RESPONDENT INFORMATION FORM: CONSULTATION ON THE PROPOSED MERGER OF BELL COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY AND THE UNIVERSITY OF PAISLEY
Please complete the details below and return it with your response. This will help ensure we handle your response appropriately. Thank you for your help.
Name:
Postal Address:
1. Are you responding: (please tick one box)
(a) as an individual __ go to Q2a/b and then Q4
(b) on behalf of a group/organisation __ go to Q3 and then Q4
INDIVIDUALS:
2a. Do you agree to your response being made available to the public (in Scottish Executive library and/or on the Scottish Executive website)?
Yes (go to 2b below) __
No, not at all __ We will treat your response as confidential
2b. Where confidentiality is not requested, we will make your response available to the public on the following basis ( please tick one of the following boxes)
Yes, make my response, name and address all available __
Yes, make my response available, but not my name or address __
Yes, make my response and name available, but not my address __
ON BEHALF OF GROUPS OR ORGANISATIONS:
3 The name and address of your organisation will be made available to the public (in the Scottish Executive library and/or on the Scottish Executive website). Are you also content for your response to be made available?
Yes __
No __ We will treat your response as confidential
SHARING RESPONSES/FUTURE ENGAGEMENT
4 We will share your response internally with other Scottish Executive policy teams who may be addressing the issues you discuss. They may wish to contact you again in the future, but we require your permission to do so. Are you content for the Scottish Executive to contact you again in the future in relation to this consultation response?
Yes __
No __
ANNEX B
THE SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE CONSULTATION PROCESS
Consultation is an essential and important aspect of Scottish Executive working methods. Given the wide-ranging areas of work of the Scottish Executive, there are many varied types of consultation. However, in general, Scottish Executive consultation exercises aim to provide opportunities for all those who wish to express their opinions on a proposed area of work to do so in ways which will inform and enhance that work.
The Scottish Executive encourages consultation that is thorough, effective and appropriate to the issue under consideration and the nature of the target audience. Consultation exercises take account of a wide range of factors, and no two exercises are likely to be the same.
Typically Scottish Executive consultations involve a written paper inviting answers to specific questions or more general views about the material presented. Written papers are distributed to organisations and individuals with an interest in the issue, and they are also placed on the Scottish Executive web site enabling a wider audience to access the paper and submit their responses [1]. Consultation exercises may also involve seeking views in a number of different ways, such as through public meetings, focus groups or questionnaire exercises. Copies of all the written responses received to a consultation exercise (except those where the individual or organisation requested confidentiality) are placed in the Scottish Executive library at Saughton House, Edinburgh (K Spur, Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive, Edinburgh, EH11 3XD, telephone 0131 244 4565).
All Scottish Executive consultation papers and related publications (eg, analysis of response reports) can be accessed from the Consultations section of the Scottish Executive website, at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations.
The views and suggestions detailed in consultation responses are analysed and used as part of the decision making process, along with a range of other available information and evidence. Depending on the nature of the consultation exercise the responses received may:
- indicate the need for policy development or review
- inform the development of a particular policy
- help decisions to be made between alternative policy proposals
- be used to finalise legislation before it is implemented
Final decisions on the issues under consideration will also take account of a range of other factors, including other available information and research evidence.
While details of particular circumstances described in a response to a consultation exercise may usefully inform the policy process, consultation exercises cannot address individual concerns and comments, which should be directed to the relevant public body.
ANNEX C
LIST OF CONSULTEES
All chambers of commerce in Scotland
All local enterprise companies in Scotland
All Scottish Further Education Colleges
All Scottish Higher Education Institutions
All Scottish Local Authorities
All Scottish MEPs
Association of Head Teachers in Scotland
Association of Managers of Student Services in Higher Education (AMOSSHE)
Association of Scottish Colleges
Association of Scottish Chambers of Commerce
Careers Development and Work
Careers Scotland
CBI Scotland
Centre for Studies in Enterprise,
Coalition of Higher Education Students in Scotland (CHESS)
Commission for Racial Equality
Communities Scotland
Copyright Libraries
Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA)
Disability Rights Commission
Education Institute of Scotland (EIS)
Enterprise and Culture Committee
Equality Network
Equal Opportunities Commission
Federation of Small Businesses
Futureskills Scotland
Head Teachers Association of Scotland
Highlands and Islands Enterprise
HM Inspectorate of Education
Institute of Chartered Accountants for Scotland
Institute of Directors
Lead Scotland
Learndirect Scotland
Learning and Teaching Scotland
Linking Education and Disability Scotland
National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers in Scotland ( NASUWT)
NHS Education for Scotland
NUS Scotland
Professional Association of Teachers
Quality Assurance Agency Scotland
Scottish Agricultural College
Scottish Civic Forum
Scottish Council for Development and Industry
Scottish Council for National Training Organisations
Scottish Council for Research Education
Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations
Scottish Enterprise
Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council
Scottish Inter Faith Council
Scottish Parliament's Information Centre
Scottish Qualifications Authority
Scottish Refugee Council
Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association
Scottish Youth Parliament
Sector Skills Alliance Scotland
SKILL: National Bureau for Students with Disabilities
STUC
Student Awards Agency for Scotland
Student Loans Company
UNISON
Universities Scotland
University and College Union
Volunteer Development Scotland
Young Enterprise Scotland
[1]http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations