Chamber and committees

Ellie Gomersall, I want to pick up on your point about the support for international students and the fact that the funding for student support has been reduced this year. Do you think that that will impact all students as well as international students specifically?

Good morning. Thank you for the information that you submitted in advance of this morning’s session. My first question is about the fact that, over recent years, multiple reports have called on the Scottish Government to set out a vision for colleges to help with progress towards long-term financial sustainability. What is your assessment of the progress that the Scottish Government has made on that so far?

Good morning to the witnesses, and thank you for your submissions and for answering our questions so far.

My questions will take us in a bit of a different direction. It is difficult to extrapolate this from the funding model, but I want to get an understanding of the impact of the current model and budget on institutions, students and staff. Anyone can start on that.

I support what you are saying about the workforce and protecting jobs. One of the things that you said a moment ago concerned the targeting of voluntary redundancies—[Inaudible.]

We are back—thank you. Forgive me.

David Belsey mentioned targeting voluntary redundancies. Are you noticing a pattern in what staff are being targeted for voluntary redundancies? To be honest, that seems to be a contradictory term, but I have heard about it happening in various colleges, including in Glasgow.

Have you seen a pattern with regard to the activity that has been dropped?

Do you notice a pattern in what is being targeted?

Thank you.

That is all very helpful. What would you do at primary level, and what conversations have you had with the deans of education about that?

Thank you—I appreciate that.

I have a final question. As you will know, going through a complaints process is difficult for anyone, and it can, in some circumstances, be quite traumatic, not just because the person has to relive what has happened but because of the nature of the process itself. What consideration have you given to the impact of the process on children and young people, and how will you take that into account in your organisation’s processes?