Chamber and committees

The colleges were already participating in such activity under the regional model. One area that I explored yesterday—I have done this in a number of forums—was the need to ensure that, if economic planning is taking place in an area in relation to things such as city deals or green freeports, or at a more localised level, the cost that might be incurred by the colleges is factored in, and additionality is provided to meet the additional asks of colleges in specific areas. That was one of the issues that we discussed yesterday.

Extensive work is under way not only to protect the concept of UHI but to future proof it. A little while after I came into post, I met UHI central—if you want to call it that—which outlined a vision of what reform might look like. I had some concerns about that—you might have done, too—because I wanted UHI to ensure that the voices of the local colleges that are involved in delivery were heard and so on.

To UHI’s credit, it has done exactly that. An extensive piece of redesign work is going on. I am heartened that it appears to be taking people with it on the journey, which is essential.

Again, the process has taken longer than I would have wanted, but I anticipate that UHI will come back to the Government as soon as it has been able to firm up the proposal. It will have a business case for us to consider, but I am keen that we do whatever we can, at pace, to support UHI in ensuring that the concept is absolutely protected in a way that is sustainable for the long term. That work is on-going across the colleges concerned.

I will write back to you on that. We are in UHI’s hands when it comes to delivery, which will be determined by the pace at which it can get agreement on all that. I will reflect on that and come back to you.

This Government is absolutely committed to enhancing the apprenticeship offering in all its guises, whether it be, for example, modern apprenticeships or graduate apprenticeships. There is an absolute commitment. The apprenticeship offering is critical to the needs of the economy, and we are in the business of improving it.

As for your initial point, Mr Rennie, I would just caution that we should await the Pamela Gillies report on Dundee.

I do not entirely accept that description. A number of things were done on the back of the review. For example, there is currently a pilot online application service for students to apply for disabled students allowance, which is on track to be rolled out this year. Some work has been done on updating the student portal. However, I accept that there have been issues. I hope that those who might be viewing that element of the consultation with a degree of cynicism recognise that I would not commit to it if I were not serious about delivering on it. I am keen that we engage properly on this.

There are a number of areas. We have done well with care-experienced students, but we can perhaps do better. You and I have previously discussed apprenticeships, Ms Duncan-Glancy. I am not convinced that we are doing enough in that space. It is my commitment, in the year that I have remaining in the Parliament, to do as much as I can to identify what more might be required. That should be informed by the lived experience of those who have gone through the system or are attempting to navigate the system.

We are always looking at what works elsewhere. I know that my officials have been talking to their counterparts in the UK, Wales and Northern Ireland Governments, but the set-ups are not comparable. A fundamental change would be required, perhaps through primary legislation, in order to enable us to do that, which is the frustration here.

The reality is that I am trying to exhaust all the options to see whether we can do this. In reality, given the time that is left in this parliamentary session, it is pretty unlikely that primary legislation could be passed before the conclusion of the session, so it might fall to the next one. However, we hope that we could get in such a measure before that, because of the 2026 target and the 2030 target.

My reference to resources was more in the context of comments that were made at last week’s meeting. Others talked about the resource that would be involved.

There is a resource point but, if it reassures you to hear that resource is not a barrier to introducing the measure, I would just say to you that I do not think that we have costed what this would cost us. That has not been foremost in our thinking; foremost in our thinking has been how we could introduce it, because we see the benefits of it.

My understanding is that the review is just getting started. We are providing some analytical resource to support that. We are talking about a matter of a few months, because we will have to come to conclusions. I do not have specific timescales right now, but it is a matter of urgency, for obvious reasons.

It is more than that. For example, we are all aware of the issue of getting young women into careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The University of Edinburgh sends its STEM undergraduates into primary and secondary schools around Edinburgh and the Lothians to actively engage with young women in those schools to encourage them down that path. That is the type of activity that I am talking about, and it is not always publicly recognised. Our universities do fantastic work in this space, and we should be ready to acknowledge that.