Seòmar agus comataidhean

Grand. Thank you very much.

Yes. I have been working my way through everybody who has come in, in advance of the next panel. It is getting a tip-off.

Is your ability to take action if a point of fair work conditionality is not met confined purely to what is in existing Scottish Government fair work policy? If a college had come to you on the basis of a local agreement with its trade unions and said, “This is one of our fair work policies and we want it to be part of our outcome agreement” and then, for whatever reason, it did not meet that or was unable to do so, would you still be able to take action? Would you have any role in that or is your role in ensuring that fair work conditionality is delivered confined to existing Scottish Government fair work policy?

If there were a breach, what options would be available to you? Would it simply be a case of clawing back money that was provided on the condition of the fair work agreement being met, or are other mechanisms available to you?

That is useful. Forgive me, as I should know this, but are the proposals that you just mentioned—on the powers that a future funding body or a reformed SFC might have—in the public domain, or have you submitted them directly to the Government?

Thanks.

I am sorry for indicating that rather late. I am just looking for a bit of clarity on the minister’s final few lines. Amendments 1 to 4 all make complete sense, but could the minister explain the scenarios in which Revenue Scotland would not want to exercise that operational power? Why move from “must” to “may”? What are the situations in which it would not want to do so?

Thank you. I would love to go into that in more depth, but there is another area that I am supposed to ask about, which is fair work. This goes back to what Mark MacPherson said a moment ago about what the Scottish Government expects of colleges. One thing that the Scottish Government expects of colleges is a commitment to fair work principles. My understanding is that colleges include some reference to that in their outcome agreements with the SFC, but it is totally unclear whether there is any real enforcement of that. Is either of you aware of how colleges are evaluated by the SFC in relation to their commitment to fair work? Is action ever taken against a college for failing to meet that commitment?

Good morning, everybody. A range of reports over recent years have recommended that the Government set out a clear vision for the university sector. Last year, we saw the publication of the vision for the tertiary sector overall. Has the Scottish Government now made clear what its vision for the sector is and provided the strategic direction that many universities have been asking for?

Dr Conlon, would you like to add anything at this point?