Each year, the Committee looks at how the Scottish Government spends money on education, children and young people. The Committee focused this budget-related work on the impact of spending on the delivery of outcomes.
This year, the Committee agreed to focus on college and university funding, in particular, exploring the long term financial stability of the college and university sectors.
This work built on the Committee’s previous pre-budget scrutiny for 2025 to 2026 and its work on colleges regionalisation.
The Committee reported its findings to the Scottish Government before the Scottish Budget was published.
The Committee also considered the financial stability of the University of Dundee as part of its pre-budget scrutiny.
The inquiry was discussed at the following Committee meetings:
The Committee has sent and received the following correspondence during the inquiry:
Letter from the Minister for Higher and Further Education, 20 January 2026
Letter from the Convener to the Minister for Higher and Further Education, 14 November 2025
Letter from Scottish Funding Council with follow-up information from evidence session on 1 October, 23 October 2025
Letter from the Minister for Higher and Further Education, 22 October 2025
Letter from Scottish Funding Council regarding funding recovery and over-recruitment, 30 July 2025
Letter from the Minister for Higher and Further Education; and Minister for Veterans to the ECYP Convener, 29 July 2025
Letter from College Employers Scotland (CES) about potential improvements to the National Joint Negotiating Committee, 9 July 2025
Letter from Universities Scotland with follow-up information on some of the points that Claire McPherson was asked when giving evidence on 4 June, 9 July 2025
Letter from the Joint Unions at the University of Edinburgh to the Convener of 30 June 2025
Submission from the University of the Highlands and Islands, 23 June 2025
Letter from the Principal and Vice-Chancellor, University of the West of Scotland to the Convener, 17 June 2025
Letter from University of Edinburgh Senate members to the Convener, 10 June 2025
Letter from the Joint Unions at the University of Edinburgh to the Convener of 30 May 2025