Seòmar agus comataidhean

It is worth noting that MSPs will also have that conversation with their parliamentary parties. Discussion has to take place within parliamentary groups, and agreement reached there. However, a proxy vote is different; it is an individual arrangement between an MSP and the Presiding Officer.

Perhaps I used the wrong expression when I spoke about “parental leave”. A lot of new parents—myself included—want that leave in order to devote themselves completely to their children. Others want a balance. There will be days on which they wish to make alternative arrangements to allow them to be more actively involved in the life of the Parliament. Sometimes, that will not be possible. I echo your comments about flexibility, convener. Every case is individual; everyone has their own home circumstances.

That draws attention to the responsibility on the person who casts a proxy vote. They will have a responsibility not only to cast it as directed. There are situations in which business in this place changes quite quickly as events change, and there will be times when the fact that someone has asked someone else to be their proxy puts time constraints and burdens on that person to keep the relationship with the person for whom they are voting going and to make sure that it is not a case of out of sight, out of mind, and that they do not assume, “I know how my colleague would have voted, so I’ll cast it that way.”

Therefore, when we draw up guidance or rules and regulations on the matter, perhaps we should say something about the responsibility of the person who casts a proxy vote, because it could be a burden on them time-wise to make sure that, on appropriate occasions, they check with the person for whom they are casting the proxy vote that they have accurately gathered their views on how they wish to vote.

I think that the issue of whether someone should be able to have a proxy vote for more than one person is also worth considering. Although nothing has been put in place to prevent it, ideally it would not happen, because we would not want there to be a perception of block voting. I do not think that that would be the perception, but although there might be nothing to preclude one person holding more than one proxy, it might not be ideal.

Yes, absolutely, convener. When I made my comment, it was not about trust—I hope that that is implied. However, yes, let us put something more formal about that in the guidance. My comment was more about reminding MSPs who hold the proxy vote about their responsibilities to stay in contact and have that on-going relationship with the person whose proxy they hold. Edward said that the Presiding Officer should make sure that people who are away from this place for a period of time do not feel forgotten and that on-going support is offered. The person who holds the proxy also has an important role to play in that.

That helpful answer still acknowledges the funding gap between universities and colleges. I am not trying to create division; I am merely mirroring the comments that we heard from college principals—I think that that is reasonable as part of our inquiry and our overall budget scrutiny in relation to the sector. Karen, is the narrowing of the gap deliberate? Will the end point be parity of funding?

This will sound a bit counterintuitive. There are some good stories to tell about widening access, which could, of course, be under threat because of the cost of living crisis and the financial constraints. However, I will put a couple of those on the record.

We are ahead of our target of getting 20 per cent of those in higher education to be from the most deprived areas, as measured by the Scottish index of multiple deprivation. The interim target of 16 per cent was exceeded ahead of time. I know that we are talking about universities, but I think that colleges were the biggest contributors to that. Some 40.9 per cent of the progress came through the college pathway. Record numbers of young people from the most deprived backgrounds are at university.

Without putting words in your mouth, are those young people under more financial pressure than students more generally? I see that the minimum income guarantee for the most deprived students is £8,100 a year, but there will be other students out there who do not get those guarantees. Do you have any comments on how universities are taking steps to improve widening access to education, despite the current financial climate? What are the dangers to ensuring that that is sustainable and that we build on that progress?

I will come on to funding, but I am interested in Karen Watt’s reflections on that success story and how that important support is offered through the learning journey. Her comments on that would be welcome.

What monitoring might take place through the course? I am sure that, in four years’ time, our successor committee will want to know what percentage of those young people from SIMD20 entering university this year successfully graduated in comparison with average graduation levels. We will want to look at that to see whether there has been actual success.

Colleges talk about the infrastructure costs of doing a lot of community work to bring those least likely to ever set foot in any further or higher education setting into that setting. They bear a significant cost to get people into the system in the first place. When you look at the additional wider infrastructure costs that universities sometimes have, do you also look at the same costs for community work that colleges have?

Mary Senior, it would be helpful if you said whether you are aware of anything that universities do to target young people from the most deprived areas to support them through their education path. There are really good statistics, but Ellie Gomersall is absolutely right that the initial outcome is getting them into university. Overall, what we are looking for is a successful first degree.

I absolutely get that.

Since 2019, there has been a 32 per increase in the number of 18-year-olds from the most deprived backgrounds who have been offered a university place. That is a staggering figure—although not all those places will have been accepted, of course. That is a large cohort of young people, a lot of whom are without a history, culture or tradition of going to university. They will be the first in the family—in the household—to do that.

You are right about the strains that will be put on university staff, student support organisations and everything else. Are you aware of anything bespoke that universities are trying to do to support that particular cohort? I absolutely acknowledge the financial challenges, which we will talk about in the next evidence session. However, are you aware of any specific initiatives at the university level that are trying to drill down into that particular cohort to offer extra support?

I will ask Universities Scotland that question in the next evidence session.