Professor Patricia Findlay, Johanna Commander and Dr Colin Lindsay of the Scottish Centre for Employment Research (Department of Human Resource Management), in partnership with the ESRC Centre on Skills, Knowledge & Organisational Performance at the Universities of Oxford and Cardiff, have recently secured an ESRC grant of £169,391.
The research will review the impact of devolved skills policy in Scotland, assess how this interacts with reserved employment policy and evaluate how key actors and institutions shape policy. The research will also consider the scenarios for employment and skills policy under further devolution or independence, including analysing the stock of skills and capacities (organisational and workforce development capacities in particular) among key stakeholders and how these might align with changed policy responsibilities in Scotland.
This is an important piece of work with the potential to influence future skills policy in Scotland. The research is funded under the ESRC's 'The future of the UK and Scotland' programme which aims to inform public debate in the run-up to the referendum.