Chamber and committees

I am wondering whether there is anything you feel the Scottish Government can do to support further sharing across the college sector to embed good practice widely.

I have a couple of questions that I will roll into one.

Wellbeing has rightly been a key priority, with the Scottish Government funding 80 additional university mental health counsellors. First, is adequate support available for students who are struggling with their mental health? Secondly, we heard in evidence about the positive impact of the additional mental health counsellors and about the possibility of funding them from budgets other than the education budget; can you say anything further on that just now or offer an idea of the timescales and the decisions around continued funding for mental health counsellors?

Minister, I took all of that on board, and there are some good examples of progress, such as at New College Lanarkshire, which has built strong relationships and trust across its team of 1,000-plus employees, running through from janitorial to teaching staff. It has food pantries and free breakfasts, and it has created a culture of good will and mutual respect, with a joint focus on prioritising learning. There are still very challenging conversations to be had, but that certainly makes it a lot easier for that college. What further opportunities can the Scottish Government take to help to create good leadership practice and ideas for successful learning and to share that across Scotland’s college sector?

What consideration has been given to improving completion rates for students with additional support needs and disabilities? What impact has regionalisation had on those students?

Are students with additional support needs and disabilities able to have enough influence on college decision making—for example, at the college board level? Having that influence can help to improve the conditions for them and make it more likely that they will be able to succeed and complete.

Could the Scottish Government take any steps to create more opportunities to share good practice across colleges?

I want to touch again on the co-production aspect, which is what really lies at the heart of this. It also means that services will be co-designed, because, up to now, it has not been enough just to listen to what people say and then hand in a policy for design and delivery. We need the direct involvement of lived experience all the way through the process.

Eddie, I want to ask you about the transfer of services. Should children’s services, justice and social work be transferred at the same time? What are your views on the proposals to undertake further consultation on that? Also, what are the top risks that you have identified for the transfer of services, and what, if any, opportunities do you see for improvements?

Are you saying that you do not really see the value of a co-production approach through the national care service?

Going back to what has been said about working in partnership with local authorities, health boards and others, I absolutely take on board the amount of work that has gone on through the integration joint boards. However, the situation that we are looking at now is one of decision making happening via co-production—that voice of lived experience getting parity with the employees or the people who set the strategies—and the possibility that that brings for improvements. Paul Kelly, do you agree with co-production per se? What work are COSLA and councils carrying out just now that they are able to bring to the table to promote and embed co-production more widely?

I was a bit late in putting my hand up. We should emphasise the position of children with additional support needs, because the use of restraint on them is proportionately much higher.