Seòmar agus comataidhean

Our papers note that, if the cross-party group was to get the approval of the committee, I would be a member. I attended the first meeting, which Beatrice Wishart spoke about. Clearly, therefore, I may be a bit prejudiced—in a positive sense—as to whether the group should go forward. Ms Wishart, I very much hope—I am sure—that it will draw on the lived experience of those who have had to endure poverty not just currently but over a number of years.

The minister said that election offices in each local authority area will remind individuals to ensure that their voter registration is still valid and at the address where they stay, remind them that they have a postal vote and ask whether they wish to retain it. Is there a uniform approach to that throughout Scotland? The Electoral Management Board for Scotland is involved with each local government election, but are there 32 ways that that happens in Scotland—one per local authority—or is there a more standardised approach?

I do not expect the minister to have the answer at his fingertips, but I ask in case the committee wants in future to examine the management of postal votes throughout Scotland. I am not saying that it will, but the convener’s question was interesting.

Finally, convener, can I just ask the cabinet secretary—

What engagement work is planned for the college and university sectors between now and May to establish that the funding, whatever it may be, can be used most effectively?

I do not doubt the financial challenges that the Scottish Government faces in setting the budget, but Colleges Scotland says that it has had a 2.6 per cent real-terms cut to its revenue budget, and 38 per cent of school leavers from the 20 per cent most deprived cohorts according to the Scottish index of multiple deprivation go to Scotland’s colleges. Has the Scottish Government had discussions with Colleges Scotland about, or made any assessment of, the impact of what that body tells us is a 2.6 per cent real-terms cut?

For once, this will be brief. Would it be possible to get at some point the full quantum of spending on colleges reported in the one place, so that the committee does not have to do its own budget scrutiny and look at other committees’ scrutiny to get a global figure for the money that is to be spent in colleges in the coming financial year?

I want to explore the line of questioning that the convener previously explored in the evidence session with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities. Just for clarity, are the additional moneys that are now baselined in next year’s budget ring fenced, and—if this is not contradictory—are they ring fenced with a degree of flexibility so that, for example, there must be—[Inaudible.]—permanent contracts but the balance between classroom assistants and teachers is up to each local authority to decide on the basis of what best meets local needs? I would get that.

In addition, other than the teacher census, what is the reporting exercise for this? If we increase the number of teachers, that might not involve a significant fall in the number of temporary teachers, because temporary posts could be converted to permanent posts and new teachers could come in for specific projects on a temporary basis—it would not tell the whole story. Will we have a consistent reporting exercise across 32 local authorities, to better understand what is happening with teachers and classroom assistants in Scotland? If the teacher census could do that, that would be great, but, if it cannot, can the Scottish Government do something else so that, in a few months’ time, as part of on-going budget scrutiny, our committee can see what progress has been made?

Thank you, cabinet secretary.

I do not think so, convener. There is a lot for us to digest in private.

That is helpful, cabinet secretary. It was a frank and realistic answer on a budget that is challenging for Scotland’s colleges. In the forthcoming academic year, how will you monitor what that impact will be on colleges? During any financial year, Barnett consequentials become available and the Government can leverage in other spending, so Scotland’s colleges will rightly be looking at how they can get some financial respite and whether some of that money will be leveraged in.

I will give some examples of that. I am not sure whether the core budget for colleges, which I said was challenging, includes the £10 million that colleges spent under the young person’s guarantee in the most recent financial year or the £20 million from the flexible workforce development fund that I believe was spent in colleges in the most recent financial year. We are looking at a challenging budget, but will additional money be invested in colleges that we might not be seeing in the core budget? What can colleges expect in relation to that that will allow them to plan ahead? Mr Dornan has already spoken about how multiyear budgets would help with forward planning. Can the cabinet secretary assure us that we are coming back to colleges in what will be a challenging financial period?