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My answer to the first part of the question is yes. My answer to the second part is that that has not been decided.

I have had limited conversations with students. We are meeting representatives from the National Union of Students Scotland next week.

A couple of college principals got in touch with me directly to offer reassurance about their approach. I have had similar reassurances through Colleges Scotland that the overwhelming majority of colleges are seeking to take the appropriate approach, which is reassuring. However, I also recognise the concerns that the trade unions are expressing.

We had this conversation in this very room a few weeks ago. Redundancies are deeply regrettable, but we are in a challenging financial position and we have to get through it. As I think that I said to you then, the work that is being done directly with colleges—which will be ramped up next week—to try to find things that we can do to stabilise them will not immediately address the problem that they are dealing with right now, but I hope that it will put them on a sounder financial footing and give them the stability that we need them to have going forward.

Would you like to give me an example of what you think that the Government should be doing?

Additional money has been put into colleges over the past few years. I absolutely recognise the financial challenges that they still face, but if your point is just, “Well, you should’ve just put more money into colleges,” I guess that my challenge to you, Ms Duncan-Glancy, is, “From where?” I do not think that anyone on this committee would have been calling for us to not put more money into tackling the attainment challenge or settling the teachers pay dispute and various other things that are, rightly, priorities. I am afraid that, sadly and regrettably, colleges face a situation in which they are having to make redundancies. We hope that those can be minimised.

You are absolutely right about the future: colleges will be front and centre in what we will be doing, so we need to stabilise them now and get them into a better position for what lies ahead. However, we are in a very difficult financial position at the moment.

Because they are non-departmental public bodies with boards.

I do not want to duck your question, Mr Rennie, but it long predates my involvement in the matter.

To give myself a bit of wriggle room, I note that you, not I, mentioned three months—I said that it would be as early as is feasible after the recess.

It is for Parliament to determine the process that ought to be followed. If it was felt that it would be appropriate for me to come before the committee, I would be happy to do that. I am also happy to have an informal discussion with committee members, collectively or individually, about their thinking on the review, or if we make a statement to Parliament.

I recognise the intense and justifiable interest in the review; there is also the purpose and principles document to be considered alongside that, as the two documents need to be read together.

I am happy to do whatever Parliament feels is appropriate by way of a further update on our thinking.

You are right—it is not picked up in the review, but we have had some conversations with Universities Scotland about that, and it is right to have raised those issues.

One of the concerns that have been raised relates to the recommendation regarding the funding body, and whether it should be a new funding body with powers taken from three different directions. I think that has caused a degree of disquiet around research. All that I can say is that we entirely recognise the importance of research funding.