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Okay. I turn to Jennifer King from Dundee City Council. Earlier in the meeting, I declared an interest as an elected member of that council, and I am aware from speaking to officers that Dundee is potentially looking at upwards of £4 million of cuts to Scottish attainment challenge funding. What adjustments are you looking at in the department to cope with those cuts?

The Scottish Government’s commitment was that monitors would be in 100 per cent of classrooms. Has that happened?

I thank everyone for their evidence so far. The panel will be pleased to learn that their evidence chimes with the evidence that we have received in recent weeks about the lack of an overall analysis of need in Scotland. We have heard about that loud and clear, not just in your answers to colleagues’ questions today but also in your written evidence. In that context, I want to ask you about changes to the Scottish attainment challenge, which is, as has been mentioned, one of the key sources of resource that councils have been drawing on for provision.

You will be aware that the challenge was reformed last week. The announcement detailed £35.5 million of year-on-year cuts to the funding, including £17 million from PEF, and it set out the reallocation of £43 million from the nine most deprived authorities to be spread across the 32 local authorities. It means savage, eye-watering cuts for the nine original Scottish attainment challenge authorities. Will the reforms be beneficial or damaging to the recovery of education for the most deprived pupils in the most deprived communities in Scotland? I ask our colleague from COSLA to answer that first.

The particular circumstances in the nine local authorities that have had massive cuts to their budgets in the past week really need to be addressed in any report, too.

I welcome the agreement between you, convener, and Mr Doris that a report should be forthcoming and that we get some information from COSLA. However, I must point out—and I should declare an interest here as a councillor with Dundee City Council—that the cabinet secretary has just cut over £4 million of the council’s education budget. As a result, coming back to your question to Jennifer King on whether people are moving to permanent contracts, I have to say that that would be particularly challenging in Dundee, given the size of the direct cut that has been made. It is key that we reflect some of that in this context—

As a native Dundonian, you will appreciate my concern about the situation that you describe, with the good work that has happened in recent years being under threat, and its having to be re-evaluated with regard to whether we can afford it, at a time when need is increasing.

What do the other two panellists think about the revision in the areas of highest deprivation? Can we meet the need if we are cutting resource in that way?

I have asked a lot of questions about ventilation. This might seem to be a jump in my questioning, but it is one of the key issues when it comes to ensuring that there can be continuous education in our schools. I believe that our NASUWT colleague has done some survey work or has spoken to his members about it, and I wonder whether he can give us some feedback on that. Mike, what is your understanding of the current situation with ventilation in schools? Do your colleagues deem it to be adequate?

I am not sure that that was an answer to my question. I asked about the impact on the most deprived children in the most deprived communities in Scotland, which are set to have their budgets significantly cut as a result of the new agreed formula. Will that improve outcomes or will it just make it more challenging for those nine authorities to cope?

More than 100 members of staff in Dundee are tied to Scottish attainment challenge funding, and we believe that that funding might be reduced by up to 80 per cent. Your fears might well be realised.

Would Colin Morrison or Satwat Rehman like to comment?

Parliament did not hear as much detail about the direct funding allocations as some of us might have wished for. What is clear is that the money that has been allocated to nine local authorities—the most deprived communities in Scotland—will now be spread more widely across all local authorities.

John Dickie knows the city of Dundee well and has given evidence to the Dundee poverty commission. There will be a significant cut in resourcing. What are your initial thoughts on what impact that might have on our ability to deal with the poverty-related attainment gap?