JIM McColl, one of Scotland's top business leaders and a government adviser, has lobbied the Education Secretary about the taxpayer funding an independent network of junior colleges.
McColl suggested to John Swinney that the Government policy of funding schools directly could be extended to paying for the radical proposal.
He also informed Swinney that the junior college in Glasgow he has backed financially had a £292,500 funding gap and asked for support in rolling out the plan to Renfrew and Dundee.
McColl, a billionaire and one of Scotland’s richest men, is chief executive and chair of engineering giant Clyde Blowers Capital and a member of the First Minister’s council of economic advisers.
Although the Monaco-based tycoon’s background is in business, he and Clyde Blowers helped start Newlands Junior College (NJC) in 2014.
The institution specifically caters for pupils who have become “disengaged” from school education and offers programmes in personal development and vocational courses.
Ministers helped set up the college, which is registered as an independent school, with £500,000 of funding and Glasgow City Council also provided financial help.
McColl last year called for greater public sector support for his junior college plan and documents released by the Scottish Government reveal high-level Ministerial interest.
In March last year, the First Minister and Scottish Government Permanent Secretary Leslie Evans made a trip to NJC to witness the operation of the college.
Civil servants visited two months later and Swinney, who is also the Deputy First Minister, met McColl at Holyrood in June.
He visited NJC in August and met the tycoon again at the Scottish Parliament in November. No Government minutes were taken of the meetings.
The correspondence also reveals how the businessman believed the colleges tied in with the Government’s own education plan.
In a letter to Swinney in September, McColl wrote that the Government policy of giving £100m directly to schools was consistent with the NJC model:
“This is perhaps one of a number of mechanisms that government might use to ensure the future sustainability of a group of junior colleges.”
Ministers are also committed to moving towards a national funding formula for schools, which McColl wrote could fit in with his college model:
“[I]t could also be used to generate a basic public sector contribution to the costs of establishments such as NJC that are designed to take forward key aspects of public policy.”
McColl also said he had had “several meetings” with Renfrewshire Council about a college and noted that Dundee newspaper firm D.C Thomson was looking to be a “lead employer” in a similar venture.
On funding, he said: “At NJC we have 45 students this year, with myself and Clyde Blowers covering most of the funding. I would like Scottish Government support for the college. We have a gap on funding of £292,500 for this academic year. I would also like your support for the junior college concept to allow Renfrew and Dundee to proceed.”
However, Ross Greer, a Scottish Greens MSP, said: “If funds designed to tackle inequality in education are to be given out to non-state schools there must be complete transparency."
A spokesperson for the EIS trade union said: “The notion that any public sector funds should be diverted from already cash strapped schools to service independent provision is one that the EIS would oppose.”
Scottish Tory shadow education secretary Liz Smith MSP said: “NJC has been hugely successful and Jim McColl is absolutely right to make the case for setting up similar colleges across Scotland."
A spokesperson for NJC said: “NJC is currently in its third year of running and has proven to be a huge success to date. The first cohort graduated last year with all students moving onto sustained positive destinations: 8 have made the transition into employment; 6 into a continuation of their Foundation Engineering course at the City of Glasgow College; 1 to Glasgow Clyde College; and the remaining 5 into National Certi?cate Courses at the City of Glasgow College."
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We have received a proposal from Newlands College, which is currently being considered and will be responded to in due course. There is no requirement for minutes to be taken at all Scottish Government meetings. This is entirely in line with normal practice across the UK Civil Service.”
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