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To be clear, the meeting next week is for us to try to get agreement and put something firmly in place. Once we are in a position to do that, I hope that we will be able to write to the committee jointly to outline what is happening.

Now you are trying to put me on the spot, convener.

I think the universities will be engaged in conversations with other ministerial colleagues on that.

Good morning, convener. Thank you for inviting me to come before the committee to discuss plans for an education exchange programme as a replacement for Erasmus+. I appreciate your understanding the other week when I had to be in Liverpool on Government business.

I am aware that members will want to expand their questioning into other areas of my portfolio, including university funding and college governance. I have a team of officials with me to assist in providing the answers that members will be looking for. Before we get into those items, I want to make some initial points about our commitment to develop an exchange programme.

Scotland is an open and inclusive country, and we welcome and benefit from students who come to study in many of our first-class further and higher education institutions. Equally, learners who reside in Scotland benefit from international study exchanges in many ways.

In 2021-22, we welcomed the record number of 82,000 international students to a range of programmes, including scholarships. I am grateful for the work of our colleges’ and universities’ international offices in continuing to ensure Scotland’s global presence and reputation as a place in which to learn, study, develop and work.

Erasmus has been an integral part of our international exchange offer for many years. The last round of Erasmus+ funding, which was between 2014 and 2020, awarded over €141 million to in excess of 1,000 Scottish projects. That enabled more than 2,200 university students and 200 higher education staff from Scotland to participate in Erasmus+ annually. Proportionately more students from Scotland took part in Erasmus compared with students in any other country in the United Kingdom, and more students came to Scotland than came to any other part of the UK. That is a testament to our institutions.

As the committee is all too aware, the UK Government’s decision not to associate with Erasmus+ after leaving the European Union prevents Scotland from participating fully in its own right. In May, YouthLink Scotland shared with the committee evidence of the positive impact that the Erasmus+ programme had on the lives of our young people and professionals who supported them. As YouthLink Scotland revealed, research has shown that young people who engage with our youth work sector gain the most from those experiences and that they are transformative and life changing for them. The programmes remove barriers and provide opportunities for more positive future paths for our young people.

I say again that it is with deep frustration that I acknowledge the negative impact on the young people of Scotland of the UK Government’s decision to withdraw from Erasmus+. I am sure that the committee will agree with me on that.

In 2021, the UK Government launched the Turing scheme as a replacement for Erasmus+, and I am pleased that Scottish institutions have secured £17.6 million in the first two years of Turning. Unfortunately, though, Turing does not match the breadth and scope of Erasmus+, as it offers no provision for students to come to the UK or for staff exchanges. The Scottish Government will continue to engage with the UK Government to try to make Turing better reflect Scotland’s needs.

Although we remain committed to the Erasmus+ programme and to working with the UK Government to address the shortfalls in the Turing scheme, the Scottish Government pledged to create a Scottish education exchange programme, which would support people from across our education system.

My officials have been engaging with universities and other partners from across the education system to identify opportunities for collaboration on a Scottish programme that will seek not only to address shortfalls in the Turing scheme but to promote Scotland as an outward-looking and internationally connected country and as a positive destination for work and study.

I am keen—not least in view of the immensely challenging financial climate—that we get the best return for the students and staff involved from the investment that we make. With that in mind, during a meeting with Universities Scotland yesterday, I undertook to engage directly with that sector. I will also be looking for input from other sectors to shape the final proposals.

We recognise the key role that exchange programmes play in supporting our priorities. With that in mind, I commit to updating the committee on the timetable for delivery of the commitment following on from that engagement.

I thank the committee for the opportunity to come before it to share that and to answer any questions that members may have.

That is not what we are saying at all, and I think that you know that. Considerable support is provided to a number of rurally based colleges across the country, of which the University of the Highlands and Islands and Borders College are two examples, to ensure that young people who reside in rural settings are able to access colleges on their doorstep or as close to home as possible.

There is also a great opportunity to use technology to improve and enhance what is available remotely.

You spoke about New College Lanarkshire and gave specific examples. Ministers do not have a role in the operational decisions that are taken by individual colleges. You raised the point about halls of residence during a debate in the chamber last week. I thought that the nursery issue had been paused.

I would anticipate that the Government will be at the forefront of funding this.

We have already said that, and I have already told you what we are going to do.

We will take forward the pilot project at the moment, in conjunction with those institutions. I recognise the financial challenges that they face, just as I recognise the challenges that the Government faces.

Let me be clear: I did not share the specifics of a pilot project with Universities Scotland yesterday. We committed to have a meeting next week—the committee is the first to hear about that.

We absolutely have a lot of information on the youth aspect. However, I want to fully understand the gaps in Turing in their entirety. If we were to design a scheme and unintended consequences or shortcomings were found further down the line, I am sure that members of Parliament and this committee would rightly hold the Government to account. I want to be sure that what we are doing meets the needs, in so far as that is achievable, of the young people, staff and support workers who will be caught up in this.

We have already been clear that we would fully align with Erasmus post-independence. I am saying that we have a plan to arrange a pilot project this year and to get it up and running, and that is what we are going to do.