Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thank you very much for the warm welcome, convener. It is really good to be back at the committee. Not so long ago, I was at the table in a different capacity for about a year. In recent times, I have been on the Criminal Justice Committee and have been unable to observe every session that you have undertaken, but I know that you have put a lot of work into budget scrutiny. I am glad to be here today to help you as you take that scrutiny forward.

One thing that I know about the committee is that we all agree that we want people to get the best education, not only for them but for the common good of our country in the here and now and in the future. That is why education that is free at the point of access and there so that people can fulfil their potential is so important.

My challenge, and our collective challenge, is to ensure that we protect that basic right while supporting the sector to adapt to a deeply challenging financial outlook and a very fast-changing world. I expect that we will explore those challenges and other matters in great depth and detail today, but I also want to take the time to add a little context.

We need to remember that people across Scotland have a great education system on their doorsteps. Our universities continue to punch well above their weight on international measures, with three Scottish universities—the University of Edinburgh, the University of Glasgow and the University of St Andrews—featuring in the top 200 of the 2025 Times Higher Education world university rankings. It will not have escaped people’s attention that the University of Dundee rose 12 places to joint 23rd in that guide, that it was top in the UK for bioengineering and that it was second for medicine and dentistry. It also jumped 26 spots to 26th in the Guardian guide. Those achievements are down to the commitment of all the staff in those remarkable institutions.

Our colleges are no less important, and they are equally impressive. Not only do they support people across Scotland to get the practical skills that our economy needs but they nurture skills that will define our economy going forward.

We have so much to be proud of. Since 2012-13, around 130,000 students have benefited every year from our commitment to free tuition. There were more than 25,000 modern apprenticeship starts in 2024-25, with a record number in training. Average student loan debts for Scottish students are the lowest in the UK—they are more than £35,000 lower on average than those of students from England. We have provided more than £1 billion-worth of support to students via grants and loans to ensure that the most disadvantaged have the same opportunities as everyone else.

In stating all that, I am not for a moment suggesting that there are not considerable challenges—there absolutely are, and we need to tackle them. However, it is important for us to recognise, as we go into this challenging period together—and I want to work with all of you—that there are lots of strengths to build on. A lot has been delivered and achieved that is highly commendable, and there are a lot of excellent staff in our universities and colleges, who deserve our praise and support.

I presume, convener, that you are referring to the reports that were released on Friday by the Scottish Funding Council.

I know that there is a shared interest around the table in our college sector thriving. For completeness, it is important to emphasise that I cannot discuss the specific circumstances of certain institutions that are in commercial negotiations, as those matters are subject to commercial confidentiality.

Of course, what was put forward in the reports that were published on Friday is significant. The Government will, in dialogue with the Scottish Funding Council, consider those matters, as it had been doing prior to publication of the reports.

There are a number of questions regarding the current financial year and preparation for the next budget, which I know that the committee has been analysing as part of its work; that is why we are here today. There is a process of internal engagement on budget negotiations within Government before the budget is published. That will happen in the period ahead of the next financial year, as it normally does, and there will be an internal dialogue whereby ministers with responsibility for education will, of course, advocate strongly on behalf of our portfolio.

The challenge for us all is that we are not going to be able to set a Scottish budget until early in the new year, because the UK budget is not happening until the end of November. However, there is time to go through the processes, and we will do so professionally and diligently.

I think that that is a fair ask, and I appreciate your understanding. I am happy to take that point away and to consider what written correspondence we may be able to provide to the committee to answer the point in any further way.

Yes—and thanks for the opportunity to say a bit more on this. Universities should exercise restraint in setting senior pay, and senior pay packages should be in step with the salaries, terms and conditions that are offered to other university staff.

In a constrained financial envelope of devolved spending, the Government has not only provided free tuition but supported our institutions through some pretty turbulent times—the pandemic, Brexit and, prior to that, austerity. I know that you are looking at pre-budget scrutiny for the financial year ahead, but there is a story here. Indeed, as I mentioned in my opening statement, there is a hugely successful story of delivery from our colleges and universities through those periods. For example, in the last budget, the colleges received a revenue increase, so the Government has—

There was a 2.6 per cent increase in revenue spending for the colleges sector in the last financial year, but I am trying to not have that debate, because it is important that we think ahead.

In that context, there is an area that the Scottish Government can control, which is consideration in the period ahead of what additional support, from our limited envelope, could potentially be provided to support both sectors.

We are in very good dialogue with Universities Scotland about the future—the member’s colleague Willie Rennie and Stephen Kerr raised the matter in Parliament yesterday—and I am sure that we will have more discussions. There is a really good conversation happening with universities about the future and about how we can work together in this challenged environment, and I want to have that conversation with the colleges as well.

Overall, we are operating in an environment where inflationary pressures have caused significant challenge. There are situations with energy costs, the geopolitical scenario, immigration rule changes, and the fact that national insurance contributions are going up. The Scottish Government is having to contend with a situation where a lot of external factors have put pressure on those autonomous institutions, which are having to contend with it as well.

The question for us as a Parliament, for the executive and the legislature, is how we work together to ensure that those key sectors and institutions are there to provide for our economy and our learners in the here and now, and that we evolve and adapt for the very challenging future ahead of us with regard to technological change and the way in which the economy will evolve.

But, in that—

I cannot change the past, if that is what you are asking. What we can do together is, first, recognise what our colleges have delivered, in terms of the tens of thousands of people who have successfully gone through our colleges in that period and gone on to have successful careers, without tuition fees.

We can think collectively about how we work with the college sector—I am very determined to do that. I greatly value our college sector—I, and the Government, think that it is extremely important to meet our future economic needs and fulfil the needs of industry. I was pleased to be able to talk about that a bit in the stage 1 debate on the Tertiary Education and Training (Funding and Governance) (Scotland) Bill last week.

How we ensure that we have the provision that is required, both in local communities and over a geographical spread, is very important to me and to the Scottish Government. It is important for us to work together with our college sector and with industry to ensure that the colleges and the economy are working together in the most optimal way, for the benefit of colleges and—crucially—for the benefit of the people whom we want to go through those institutions, work in our economy and our growing and emerging sectors and become very successful in their careers.

As I said to Parliament last week during the stage 1 debate on the tertiary education bill, and as I was very clear in saying my opening statement, I am not waiting for primary legislation to work with the universities to seek to enhance the graduate apprenticeship offer. That is all I am going to say just now. I will update the committee on that in due course, but I have to have further dialogue with Universities Scotland.