Seòmar agus comataidhean

You might have just covered a bit of this next question, minister. In respect of a number of the powers in the bill, the committee asked why they were not more narrowly drafted—I think that that was just addressed—and greater detail provided. You responded that doing so has not been possible and that the circumstances in which those powers might be used are not yet clear and will depend on the operation of the bill once it is enacted.

The committee understands the need for some in-built flexibility, but, if you are unable to identify the circumstances in which those powers might be used, why do you consider that it is appropriate to have those powers at all?

Thanks. You have stated that land reform is

“a process, rather than an event”.

What is your response to the view that it might be better to make any future changes only as the picture becomes clearer and to introduce them in a future bill, allowing for further parliamentary scrutiny at that point?

Thank you very much for that.

It is only natural for colleges and universities to want to maintain their independent, unique positions that have developed over the years and their right to make their own decisions with the money that is allocated. However, given the difficulties for financial sustainability that might arise, has an assessment been made of the potential for shared services and synergies between colleges and universities, even up to the point of mergers? A situation involving mergers seems unlikely, but you never know.

That is helpful—thank you.

If colleges—maybe not universities—came forward to say that they would like to share services but had run into difficulties around VAT, for example, could the Scottish Government help them to get around some of the difficulties?

Ms Watt, you mentioned that the Scottish Funding Council previously called for multiyear funding. You do not have that at the moment. What further action do you believe that the Scottish Government can take now to enable the SFC to provide more support for institutions? You have talked about multiyear funding as one element. Is there anything else?

I know that it is a major issue, but I am just wondering about what I see as the need for universities and possibly colleges to cross-subsidise, so that the money raised from international students helps maintain the funding available to home students from Scottish towns and cities. Is there a way of using that international money to support home students in that way?

Does anyone else want to add anything?

That is very useful. Colleges exist in order to provide education and life chances for their students. That is something that we always talk about. However, college buildings can fall into disrepair, and funding for urgent maintenance can become important. We are told that demand for that has outstripped the funding that is available at the moment. Can the SFC help colleges with that side of things?