Seòmar agus comataidhean

Stephanie Callaghan has a supplementary question.

That is not a supplementary question, but the cabinet secretary can answer it, briefly.

Thank you for stepping in Kaukab. I apologise: my computer suddenly decided to shut down. Perhaps it did not like my line of questioning.

I have a couple more quick questions, cabinet secretary, and I would like quick responses. It would be fine for you to be brief.

How would you rate teacher morale in schools?

Are you also concerned about teachers’ morale?

In September, the Scottish Government put in place a partnership with Place2Be to support teachers’ mental health. What has been the uptake of that scheme? How would you rate its performance so far? What outcomes do you expect it to deliver?

Thank you, Bob. It is fair to point out that Alastair Sim of Universities Scotland and Shona Struthers from Colleges Scotland wrote a letter to the committee on 21 December. It is important to get your response to that on the record, cabinet secretary, because those two people represent their sector and they are gravely concerned. I will give you some quotes from that letter:

“The settlement will translate into a real terms cut to funding for both sectors”.

The next quote is quite damning, so it is important to get your response to it. The letter says:

“The real terms cut in the 2022/23 budget settlement for further and higher education is part of an established overall pattern of a lack of investment in universities and colleges which has put real pressure on our students, staff and infrastructure.”

They writers are saying that it is an “established overall pattern” from the Scottish Government. They go on to say:

“However, the outcome of the 2022/23 budget sends the deeply unfortunate signal that the Scottish Government does not fully recognise the role that colleges and universities play in the critical delivery of education, skills, and research, which absolutely support economic recovery and transformation. In that context, we are very concerned of the prospects for colleges and universities in a multi-year settlement which the Cabinet Secretary for Finance is expected to deliver in May 2022.”

As I say, cabinet secretary, it is important for the committee to get your reaction to those very pointed comments on the record.

Thank you so much for answering my questions. I think that I have taken more than the time that I should have taken, because of all the high jinks with the technology.

I now turn to my deputy convener colleague, Kaukab Stewart. Do you wish to come back in?

I can hear you.

Good morning, and welcome to the first meeting in 2022 of the Education, Children and Young People Committee. This is a virtual meeting.

The first item on the agenda is an evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, as part of our scrutiny of the Scottish Government budget for 2022-23. I warmly welcome Shirley-Anne Somerville MSP and her officials. Graeme Logan is the director of learning and Alison Cumming is the director of early learning and childcare at the Scottish Government.

As is our custom, I invite the cabinet secretary to make a short opening statement before we move on to questions.

Very briefly, Bob.