Seòmar agus comataidhean

Is that not reflective of the problem itself? I see some good work being done. You have talked about some of the technical connectivity that is going on. These are long-term projects—I remember talking about the R100 project nearly a decade ago, but that work has yet to be completed. The heavy lifting and much of the investment have been done by the private sector. There is limited intervention from Government in that respect.

Exhibit 2 in the report that we are discussing today talks about digital exclusion and people’s human rights. In fact, the overall report took a human rights-based approach; Audit Scotland made that clear early on in the report. That is a good angle to take, because people’s human rights are important.

The report identifies a number of specific human rights that could be affected by a lack of access to digital services. They include the rights to receive and impart information, the right to protection from discrimination, and the rights to access education, social security and so on. What analysis has been undertaken of the potential risk of the Scottish Government breaching human rights with respect to digital exclusion? Are there any live cases in the system that reflect such a breach?

I will have to choose between the two questions that I had shortlisted, but that is fine. I will ask about rural connectivity, which is an important area and one that is of particular relevance to Scotland. The report hones in on it in a whole section and particularly in paragraph 21, on coverage in urban areas versus rural areas.

On the back of what Geoff Huggins said, I appreciate that getting to the last couple of per cent of people is always the most difficult and often the most expensive as well, from a technical, physical and logistical point of view. However, I am aware of the Scottish and UK Government schemes and the work in the private sector. Lots of activity is taking place on things such as the broadband voucher scheme, the shared rural network and so on. Can you give me an update on the progress on that? When do you think you might hit 100 per cent to ensure that rural communities have access to 4G and broadband that is as good as the access that urban communities and cities have?

Others will ask about access to local services, particularly through local authorities, and some of the difficulties that people face. You have talked about Denmark, Singapore and other countries. Is anyone at any point a little bit embarrassed by the lack of progress in Scotland? Do you not feel that, as a nation, we should be leading the way and not chasing?

There might be some disparity in the figures. I am just quoting from the Auditor General’s report, which quotes directly from the Scottish Government’s figures. The Scottish household survey was last published on 23 December. I appreciate that another one is probably coming out soon, and it may show that that figure of 91 per cent has gone up; I hope that it does.

Notwithstanding that, having technical access is not the same as having the knowledge to use what you can access. It remains a fact that 15 per cent of our population lack basic foundation digital skills. The number of people who have the skills to use high-speed internet is disproportionate, relative to the number of people who can access high-speed internet. What work are you doing to benchmark that against other parts of the UK or countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development region of which we are a part?

Why do one in 10 households in Scotland still have no access to the internet?

You mentioned the six colleges that are experiencing significant financial difficulties. I appreciate that you do not want to name them because the situation might change as further audits come forward or analysis is done on their finances, but it sounds as though they are in a perilous financial position. What happens when a college simply runs out of cash as a public body?

So, one solution would be simply for the Government to give more cash to the sector.

You can only cut so far. There must come a point when you suddenly cannot pay your bills—when you cannot operate the buildings, pay your staff, buy anything or replace anything that is broken. If that was a business, it would go bankrupt and close. I am trying to understand what happens in a public sector environment. Would the Funding Council simply loan a college cash if it had no reserves? Could a college borrow money, or would it simply have to close altogether?

That message is loud and clear, and it has been widely reported as such off the back of your briefing. However, there is a false economy to trying to make ends meet on an annual basis simply to make your accounts fit for purpose. Redundancies come at a cost. We have talked about the educational, social and even moral impact of making redundancies, but there is also a financial cost. You are hoping that it will save money down the line, but it costs money up front to pay people off. It seems like a short-term fix to a longer-term problem. Is that a correct assertion?