We move on to agenda item 4, which is our consideration of a follow-up response from the Scottish Executive to our report, "Overview of Further Education Colleges in Scotland 2000/2001". Members will recall that on 7 January the committee considered an initial Executive response to the report. Following that, the committee agreed to write to the Executive and seek further information on several issues. We have received the Executive's response, and I now seek members' views on it.
My comment might appear to be fairly defensive, but I feel that we should have received such a response the first time around. We should press the point that when we go to the trouble of taking a lot of evidence and publishing a report, we expect a full response from the Executive, rather than just a passing acknowledgement that we have published a report. Indeed, I notice that the Executive still does not accept some of our recommendations. It should make it clear why that is the case.
I agree. I have noticed that there is a lack of information about what is happening in the north-east. For example, the response says that the industry mapping exercise has been delayed because of contractual difficulties; however, it does not provide an explanation.
I thank the education department for its response, which shows the actions that have been taken. The committee appreciates such information, and wishes the department, the Scottish Further Education Funding Council and the colleges well in their work to achieve financial and organisational improvements. We look forward to future progress reports.