Response to Independent Review of CLD March 2024

At the start of December 2023 the Minister for Higher Education and Further Education Graeme Dey confirmed that the Scottish Government would carry out a review into Community Learning Development (CLD). The independent review of CLD in Scotland will run from December 2023 until June 2024. It will examine the extent to which CLD is delivering positive outcomes for some of Scotland’s most vulnerable learners and marginalised groups.

Mr Dey said: “Our review of CLD will identify strengths and highlight areas for improvement so that, as we progress reforms, we can ensure that everyone benefits. It is critically important for us to be able to identify strengths in our current approach to CLD and to highlight where improvements may be necessary.”

In recognition of the changing landscape and emerging needs of learners, the Scottish Government committed to reviewing the CLD regulations in 2021. The Minister for Higher and Further Education has requested this commitment to be taken beyond the legislative requirements for CLD with a focus on how the CLD service offers support and development to learners in Scotland’s communities.

As part of CLD Standards Council’s participation in this independent CLD Review by Scottish Government, we offered our members the opportunity to explore and discuss each of the four themed areas: Awareness & Visibility; Accessibility & Availability; Support & Learning; and Pathways & Progression.  We also engaged with Stakeholders, FE/HE Sector, Students, our Executive and Standing Committees.  Sessions focused on how the review may impact the work of the Standards Council and how it supports its members.

In total, the CLD Standards Council made 14 separate submissions from the individual engagements, one of which was a final full response, which you can access below, and all of the 14 submissions are on i-develop for members to access.