'College gave me a second chance after my sister's murder'

Lindsay Brown says she knows more than most how Scotland's further education colleges are able to give people a second chance.

Her older sister Vicky Hamilton disappeared in 1991, sparking one of the most high profile missing person cases of the decade.

It was only years later it was discovered she had been a victim of serial killer Peter Tobin.

The impact of her sister going missing and her mother's death just a couple of years later had a devastating affect on Lindsay's childhood.

"I had to leave school through no fault of my own when I was 16, which meant that I had no qualifications," she says.

"I'd always loved education, but for me, I felt like that was gone, the opportunity was gone."

But when she turned 21 Lindsay realised her local college was doing Highers in science, her favourite subject.

Now 41, she recalled: "I applied, didn't think I'd get in, and I got in.

"It is definitely a second chance. Even a third or fourth chance actually."

Lindsay was doing further studies at the Falkirk Campus of Forth Valley College when her sister's body was found in 2007.

She says that listening to evidence in court that later secured Tobin's guilty verdict led her to a career teaching forensics at the same college.

"When Vicki was found it was obviously a really harrowing time," Lindsay says.

"My mental health wasn't great. I think if I hadn't been at this college I would have probably just crashed out of education."

Forth Valley College, like many others in Scotland, is struggling to balance the books.

Management say maintaining its three campuses - Falkirk, Stirling and Alloa - may no longer be sustainable - and Alloa might have to close.

Lindsay says it is vital for people to have access to a local college and they need to be properly funded.

"If I wasn't at the college, I wouldn't be where I am today," she says.

"That is a 100% fact.

"Colleges are needed for people who don't have a conventional way into education.

"Colleges are needed to allow people like myself and loads of other students, who for whatever reason, school hasn't been good to them, to be able to get into education and get to places they deserve to get to."

Last week, a report by the Scottish Funding Council said most Scottish further education colleges face unsustainable losses over the next three years - and several were warning they could run out of cash by the end of this financial year.

On Thursday, a new report from Scotland's public spending watchdog found colleges have experienced a 20% real terms cut in funding over the past five years.

Audit Scotland said Scotland's colleges are teaching fewer classes to fewer students as they struggle with their finances.

It said colleges may also feel pressured to cut the size of their estates to meet cost savings.

But the watchdog warns campus closures "can disproportionately impact more deprived students who often travel further and rely on public transport to attend classes".

Megan Scott is one of more than 460 students at the Alloa campus, where she is studying beauty therapy.

The 18-year-old said travelling to another site would be tough for her.

"If we do lose this place it will be a challenge for me to get to Falkirk as I don't drive," she said.

"It would probably result in me having to leave my house a good hour, maybe even an hour and a half to two hours, earlier than I really would normally have to because public transport around here isn't great."

Health and social care student Lewis Watson, 26, said losing the college would be a blow to the community.

"Alloa hasn't got a lot and this is a great opportunity for people like myself," he said.

"It would be devastating to me because it's given me a new confidence."

Liam Francis, 22, is also studying health and social care at Alloa.

He said the college gave him another chance.

"I've really struggled in school," he said.

"I never left with much qualifications, but I've come here, I'm starting to further my education, I've really found what I want to do in the future. It's helped a lot."

Kenny MacInnes, principal of Forth Valley College, said the college was facing unprecedented financial challenges.

"Current funding allocations and rising costs have placed significant pressure on our budget, and our current financial position is the most difficult we have ever experienced," he said.

Options being explored include sale and leaseback of the building or selling part or all of the campus.

Anne-Marie Harley, a lecturer at the college and representative for the EIS union, said the Scottish government needed to make further education a priority.

"In parliament they'll speak about how many students go from school to university but they don't mention colleges," she said.

"Colleges are vital to the economy, we're part of the education system.

"We're the people who help people develop skills, training, confidence - and the social benefits of what we do in colleges just cannot be measured - and that needs to be recognised."

Forth Valley College Board of Management were due to make a decision on the future of the campus on 26 September but stood the meeting down to allow for further talks.

The Scottish government said colleges played a "vital role" in the economy and wider society and it would consider the report's findings.

A spokesperson said: "As this report notes, the sector currently faces a number of high-level pressures.

"While colleges are responsible for their own operational matters, such as their campus footprint, ministers are clear that they must consider the needs of the people, region and the communities they serve."

The spokesperson added that the college sector received a 2.6% increase in teaching funding and a 4.9% increase to support college maintenance from the Scottish Funding Council this year.

They said: "Recognising the important role that the Alloa campus has in the local community, the Scottish government is working with the Scottish Funding Council and Forth Valley College to find a way to support the College to consider the best future for the campus."

Another week, another named storm barrels in with a report exposing the worrying state of tertiary education. Universities are facing a fierce squeeze in Scottish government funding, now down to less than a quarter of their revenue.

But it's colleges that are facing the tougher time, as they have fewer alternative places to seek out funds and rely on Holyrood for more than three-quarters of their income.

Audit Scotland's report follows on two from the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), which last week highlighted the forecasts that show most further education colleges are getting into deficits, that cash is tight, and that there's little prospect of a way out.

The official auditor doesn't see forecasts but instead looks back at published accounts, going into more detail on what money is buying, and what the lack of money can mean in poorer outcomes.

Their finding of "less teaching to fewer students" is difficult for ministers to explain, which may be why it's hard to find a minister doing so.

Unlike the SFC, Audit Scotland is in a position to tell the Scottish government what it should do better, and that starts with an assessment of the economic impact of squeezing skills and training.

As colleges see it, if there's one lever a government can pull for a quick improvement in the capacity of the economy to grow and to raise productivity, it has to be the funding of skills and training. Here is the best way to support both employment prospects and employer company growth.

And while there's regional inequality around the country, a network of 24 colleges is one way to level up or spread the gains. The reverse is also true. Remove the funds from skills and training, and the likely results are slower growth, a less skilled workforce and more inequality.

There's a silver lining. Two official reports on the problems of the further education sector are an effective way of getting the attention of ministers. They come at a vital time in preparing the next Holyrood budget and the multi-year spending review.

But with the large gap between spending commitments and the Scottish government's forecast revenue, this is only one of several public spending priorities that ministers have to juggle.