Labour condemns Scottish Government over 'brutal' cuts to college funding
Labour education spokesman Iain Gray accused the SNP of having “hammered” colleges.
“Brutal” budget cuts have left college funding 10% lower than it was just over a decade ago, Labour has claimed.
Under Scottish Government budget plans, colleges will receive £664.9 million in 2018-19, with £558.2 million of this going on day-to-day running costs, and a further £76.7 million for capital investment.
That is down from a total of £739.6 million spending on further education in 2007-08 - a drop of £74.7 million over 11 years.
Labour education spokesman Iain Gray accused the SNP of having “hammered” colleges with “brutal” budget cuts.
With no dedicated minister in charge of the sector following Nicola Sturgeon's decision to withdraw Gillian Martin's nomination for the role after details of blog posts she made emerged, he claimed colleges are “bottom of the pile” in the Government's list of priorities.
Mr Gray said: “The SNP claimed that education was their 'top priority' but further education is bottom of the pile - without a dedicated minister in Government and having been hammered by 11 years of brutal cuts.
“A real-terms cut of £75 million to Scotland's colleges will have cut off opportunities for thousands of working-class young people and people seeking to learn new skills later in life. It is a disgraceful record from the nationalists.”
The figures, from the independent Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Spice), showed spending on colleges increased in 2009-10 and 2010-11 - rising to £748.6 million and then £785.7 million.
While it was reduced after that - falling to £676.2 million in 2011-12 - the college budget has risen in the last two budgets.
Spending on colleges went from a low of £575.4 million in 2016-17 to £607.8 million the following year and £664.9 million in 2018-19.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Scotland's colleges are key to our future economic prosperity, helping to create a fairer society and meet the needs of our labour market.
“Our commitment to college funding is illustrated by an allocation of over £7 billion of investment in colleges since 2007. The 2018-19 budget will increase overall college funding by £66.2 million to £664.9 million, which equates to a 9.4% increase in real terms.