Chamber and committees

I was not dismissing them. I respect them deeply. I was just saying that, although there has been an uplift, we appreciate that the university sector would have liked more. There are real challenges, which is why we are working with the sector through a process in which we will arrive at recommendations that will support its sustainability.

This is a really important area of consideration. The college sector has warmly welcomed the budget. That view has been articulated by Gavin Donoghue, and I have spoken to a number of principals since the budget was announced who have made similar statements or given their view in other ways.

The committee will probably agree that this is an opportunity for a new chapter for our colleges in Scotland. As the committee regularly acknowledges and emphasises, colleges will be of significant importance in the period ahead, as the economy changes and as people continue to need to reskill and upskill.

We must also consider the need for sustainability. The committee will be aware of the work with our university sector in that regard. Committee members are involved in that work, the process for which was finalised before the festive break. That significant sustainability work with universities is progressing.

Between now and the end of the parliamentary session, the Government and the college sector want to establish and have up and running a similar process for the college sector in relation to sustainability and reform. We are very motivated to do that, and we want to work together collegiately. I am very excited about that work, which I think will make a meaningful difference. The funding in the budget has helped to provide the reassurance, the room and the resources to progress that work.

This is a really good time for our colleges, our Government and our Parliament to move forward together to ensure that our colleges can continue the good work that they do every day and adapt, as is necessary, for the period ahead. There is a lot of innovation and dynamism in the sector, with people wanting to do that work, so this is an important moment.

Autumn.

I appreciate the point that, particularly with capital projects, there are timeline considerations and there is a need to work carefully to make sure that different funding streams align in order for projects to progress.

As you would expect, ministers and the SFC are engaged with the colleges that have specific pressing issues and concerns, such as Dundee and Angus College—I know that the committee has rightly shown a keen interest in Forth Valley College and the Alloa campus, as well—and seek to support them in finding solutions. For example, at the end of this month, I am chairing—along with the principal of Forth Valley College—a meeting at the Alloa campus with all relevant stakeholders in the area and the community to make sure that we are turning over every stone to seek solutions that will make a positive impact and retain the Alloa campus.

We are working proactively with those organisations, whether it is Dundee and Angus College or Forth Valley College, and we are looking to support them in their endeavours to make partnerships with other organisations and businesses in the area. As I said, this infrastructure investment plan for the SFC is an important piece of work. Of course, the SFC needs time to present that plan and to do it thoroughly, and the autumn timeline is where matters are right now.

I am sorry to interrupt but, as a point of clarification, it is important to emphasise that those organisations are in touch with the SFC on a regular basis, and ministers also receive correspondence. There is engagement with the SFC and solutions are being sought. We now have clarity, should the Parliament agree to the budget—I think that it should, obviously—that there will be more resource available. That is all part of how we make progress to deal with the matter.

These are real issues, which Mr Briggs and others are right to raise, but the SFC is having constructive engagement with principals and boards, and Scottish ministers are supporting that where we can. The budget is crucial to ensuring that additional resource is available to help with such matters.

I do not want to speak on the SFC’s behalf—it is for it to articulate this—but it might choose to utilise some of that £8.2 million capital spend to support individual institutions in the shorter term with the challenges that they have. However, certainly, that capital resource that has been allocated to the SFC for college capital spending will be considered for spending as part of the infrastructure investment plan.

We anticipate that about 30,000 new apprenticeship opportunities will be provided in the 2026-27 financial year, which is similar to the number in the previous financial year. As has been the case in previous financial years, we anticipate that most of those opportunities will be modern apprenticeships. For example, in the previous financial year, about 25,500 new modern apprenticeships were provided.

Foundation apprenticeships and graduate apprenticeships are also being delivered. About 5,000 foundation apprenticeships and about 1,200 graduate apprenticeships were provided in the previous financial year. As we discussed in the chamber yesterday, there is a strong ambition to deliver more graduate apprenticeships. We are working with the sector on that and on how to improve graduate apprenticeships through our considerations on frameworks. Earlier this month, I held a very productive round-table meeting with key stakeholders, with lots of actions being taken forward as a result.

As we discussed in the chamber yesterday, foundation apprenticeships have been a success story. The Tertiary Education and Training (Funding and Governance) (Scotland) Bill will rename them as work-based learning. A lot of good work is being done to build on the delivery of foundation apprenticeships, and we look forward to working with partners on that.

For absolute clarity, colleges are crucial in tackling poverty. About a third of university entrants come from colleges, some people go straight on to college courses, and some attend college as part of an apprenticeship programme, so the impact of colleges is clear.

I was at the event that evening, too, and there was some jubilation in the room, I thought.

Maybe that was more to do with the announcements that Ross Greer and I made on fair work. There was definitely a sense that the uplift in funding was important and welcome, although I appreciate that there are thoughts and concerns about what it means going forward.

I refer back to what I said earlier about the work on sustainability, which builds on the very good tripartite engagement that there has been for some time between the Government, the SFC and Colleges Scotland, and on how we progress that tripartite work to a formal process of consideration on sustainability and the future, as we are doing with universities. My strong ambition is, before Parliament rises for the election, to have that up and running with the college sector in a way that is similar to how it is running with the university sector. That will help the next Government and Parliament in the next session with the priorities for the college sector, in terms of funding and change.