Chamber and committees

Mr Trench, you spoke about how, as part of your research before providing the Government with your direction, you had looked at other European countries. Do you want to say a bit more about that?

Were you disappointed that land value capture was not considered as part of this process?

Can you say a bit more about what that balance looks like to you? I absolutely appreciate what you said earlier about making sure that people can have a second chance by going back into education and retraining. However, as we consider the Withers report and think about how it is to be taken forward, it would be helpful to know what the balance looks like. I appreciate that you cannot be absolutely definitive on that, but it would be interesting to hear your thoughts.

So, would a balance be 50:50? Would it be 70:30? What would it be?

I am being objective.

I did a joint honours degree, actually.

The most important thing that colleges do is—

Yes—just briefly. Dr Conlon, speaking objectively, in the future do we need to think more about the scenario of graduates with state-funded degrees from Scotland leaving this country and paying their taxes elsewhere? I am an internationalist: I want people to be able to go and work abroad and then come back here. If they leave to work in another state and will form part of that state’s workforce in the long term—particularly in the medical profession, for example—do we need to think about that collectively?

Good morning. Building on what has been discussed already, could you elaborate on the post-school reform agenda and how it can help colleges with some of the concerns around financial sustainability this year and, potentially, future years?

My other question relates to a point that was raised earlier. What should be the key considerations for the Scottish Government, the SFC and the institutions with regard to the idea of potentially increasing private sector involvement in the college sector?

Why is it flawed?