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[Inaudible.]

When will the issue be fixed, then?

You cannot improve anything if you do not know where you are starting from.

Here is another quote from Universities Scotland’s submission to us. It says that the funding model that we now operate

“bakes in a structural reliance on international fees”.

It is saying that, even without the potential for a geopolitical shock, the level of cross-subsidy is going to erode the quality of the education and the experience on offer in Scotland. I am actually shocked, convener, that that has never been discussed between Universities Scotland and the minister, because it seems to me to be a huge existing and known threat.

I will make one more point, if I may, convener. The possibility of further geopolitical shocks is obviously very real, particularly in relation to the share of international students who come to Scotland from China, which was 17,165 in 2020-21. Of course, we welcome all the international students who come to Scotland—

Are we talking about, say, demand-led apprenticeships? I am just trying to work through what you have said, because I did not really grasp it. Are you saying that there will be more demand-led apprenticeships so that businesses can have cash following their apprentices into the college system? Hugh Hall, the principal of Fife College, was very specific about this in his evidence to us, saying that there were “constraints and bureaucracy” that were obviously costly and time and resource consuming. Could there be a reduction in the constraints and bureaucracy that Hugh Hall referred to? Could there even be some latitude in the form of borrowing? Could colleges borrow to support their expansion in order to fulfil the local demand that you have just described? What is your response to those questions and comments?

What other flexibilities have already been offered to the colleges, and what menu of possible further flexibilities have you and your officials worked up? I must ask you to be specific about that, minister, because it would be good to get that information out in the public realm.

The topic is apprenticeships. I was impressed that Margot Black introduced that topic earlier. Can we hear from Wendy Brownlie and Carrie Lindsay about what their councils are doing in relation to offering childcare practitioner modern apprenticeships?

I think that you are referring to their parents. [Laughter.]

That would be very useful, and I think that we all agree with that.

I would like you to answer the question. My question was about your personal engagement and what the PVI sector has told you about the conditions that it faces.