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Sometimes when we have had the longest inquiry, we have the shortest stage 2—you never can tell. I thank the minister and her officials for attending. We look forward to stage 3 in the Parliament.The Deputy Minister for Education and Young People is on his way, so I will not suspend the meeting.
I know that there has been progress, but I am firmly of the view that the pace of change in the field is like that—I do not know how that will be captured in the Official Report, by the way. A steep curve.
However, we still have a bit to do to reach a full cross-section of society. Our officials will hold discussions with the equalities co-ordinating group, which comprises senior representatives of the main equalities organisations in Scotland, to consider what else we can do in that regard.
Through my informal discussions with officials, I got the impression that there was—and possibly still is—a good chance of the whole of Ayrshire being included, rather than just South Ayrshire.
It is open season for suggesting interesting ideas.I gather that Irene Oldfather is not officially entitled to attend as a substitute for Karen Gillon.
However, only a couple of weeks ago, Alex Neil said:"the idea that the Shirley McKie case could be investigated by a parliamentary committee is, quite frankly, laughable."—Official Report, 2 March 2006; c 23702.That is a disgrace.
The First Minister will be aware that £19 billion has been invested in education since devolution. According to official statistics that were released today, spending per pupil has increased by 60 per cent since 1999.
The ministers around me have been conveying those widespread concerns, as have our officials on our behalf. In the discussions that we have had with the Home Office—as the Home Office minister made absolutely clear this morning in his interviews on the BBC—we have not only influenced the position that will exist here in Scotland, but we are on the verge of ...