Chamber and committees

I will hand over to Sue to convene the rest of the meeting. Congratulations, Sue.

It is a journey, is it not? Would Professor Scott like to come in at this point?

I am happy with that, convener, unless anybody wants to add anything.

It is interesting to hear about what will happen going forward, because part of the committee’s job is to look at that. I am glad to hear that colleges are responsive to individual, local and national demands, because they make a complex and ever-changing picture.

Is there evidence of the impact of regionalisation on students and the student experience? I do not know who could best answer that.

The committee’s next task is to choose a convener. The Parliament has agreed that only members of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party are eligible for nomination as convener. I understand that the Conservative nominee to be convener is Sue Webber.

Sue Webber was chosen as convener.

On the back of the questions on the impact of Covid, in response to the omicron variant, the Scottish Government released funding of £9.8 million through the childcare sector omicron impacts fund. I am curious about how that helped and how useful it was. The best person to answer that would be Jonathan Broadbery, followed by Graeme McAlister.

That is great.

Good morning, everyone. The number of children who are affected is relatively low—it is 35—but we all know that they will have complex multiple needs. I am deliberately not going to list any of the needs that they might have, because those children are few in number and we should protect their right to privacy. Minister, can you reassure me that the regulations will ensure that a child’s additional support needs will be met?

It is useful to hear that. Matthew, how does ELC provision in Scotland compare with provision in the rest of the United Kingdom?

That is fair enough. Would any of the other witnesses like to comment?