Chamber and committees

You are right to point out that it is the Governments that make the decisions. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the UK Government is making all the wrong decisions in all of this.

Do you really think that you have the influence to change minds on these extremely important issues, which are affecting people and institutions and stymieing economic growth? At the end of the day, if we are not attracting the best students here, we do not have the opportunity for them to join our workforce. In the past, many of the people who have come here to study have been some of the greatest minds and entrepreneurs we have had.

I want to follow up Mr McGuire’s point about universities. I represent the great city of Aberdeen, where we have the University of Aberdeen and Robert Gordon University—both very important institutions. The University of Aberdeen has attracted students from overseas for centuries and RGU has done so for many decades. The EU’s youth mobility proposals, which were rejected by Labour and the Tories, are a missed opportunity. We are seeing our university institutions being held back, stymied and, in some cases, put in positions of crisis because of the inability of overseas students to get the relevant visas.

Ms Oldfather talked about the trade agreements with Australia and others. In the past, people were attracted not only from the European Union but particularly from certain places in Africa and Asia, but that seems to have gone. What is the DAG doing to look at that? What engagement have you had with the universities? I have talked about the universities in Aberdeen, but the difficulties and the inability to get students in are the same for universities throughout Scotland and these islands.

You are optimistic in hoping that politics calms down in the UK. There might be chaos for years to come because of the decision to leave the European Union.

In your engagement with academia and the universities on these issues, do they highlight to you the major difficulties that they face because they are unable—well, they are not unable to attract folk—to get folk the necessary paperwork to study in Scotland? What are universities saying to you about their financial positions? Some have lost a huge amount of income because of that. Some have suggested that, if there are no changes, they might be in precarious positions in the future, which they would not be in if we still had free movement.

I am glad that you have managed to help to open one door, but there are still many more doors to open.

Yes, please. It is good to see you.

You mentioned data. We have discussed the fact that there are gaps in data gathering. You said that you are going to take stock of that to see what needs to be done.

I have a question that relates to data, but is also about policy formulation and getting this right. How will you include the voices of lived experience in shaping the future and eradicating the disability employment gap? The voices of lived experience are key, as far as I am concerned. People with lived experience know what works for them, they know what does not work and they know what they want.

We have heard from folks who want their independence and who have aspirations. We have even heard from folk who want to create their own businesses. How do we ensure that their voices are heard? How do you go about listening to them when it comes to data gathering and policy formulation?

I have a final question. You are the Minister for Employment and Investment, but some of the very sound arguments that we have heard from people involve other areas of Government. How will you ensure that you work with ministerial colleagues to get right the journey from school to college and into work and beyond?

One of the things that we have been doing, as always, is listening to the voices of lived experience. Some of the stories that we have heard, particularly from young folk, are very similar. Education does not seem to work for them, and does not prepare them for work, which some stakeholders have also highlighted. Many of the young folk whom we have talked to from certain parts of the country feel that college is a bit of a tick-box exercise and are not really interested in it.

Those are some of the negative views, but we have also heard some positive ones, including about initiatives such as DFN Project Search, which I have been lucky enough to see in operation in Aberdeen, where it has provided successful experiences for young folk who have gone into apprenticeships and training, with many attaining full-time employment at the end. That programme works, as do some other things. You talked about variation because of local delivery, but how do we ensure that such best practice, which works for people and is viewed as very positive, is exported across the country?

Thank you, minister.

All that engagement is good; I get all that.

Another thing that we have heard, which is really important in relation to getting things right, is that the various budget holders often do not join up. For example, social care and employment services do not work together to get the best outcomes for people.

I am not going to go on about self-directed support, because I know that Mr Smyth has got particular questions on it, but how do we get local authorities, which are dealing with all this, to take into account the needs, desires and aspirations of each individual in order to get provision right for them?