Chamber and committees

Thank you, cabinet secretary. Nonetheless, you have provided some helpful context for my constituents, whom I spoke to at the weekend.

I have a few questions about the national performance framework and active travel through walking and cycling. The Scottish Government has been doing a lot to support walking and cycling outcomes in the national performance framework, particularly during the pandemic and in the following years. Will you update the committee on that work? Have there been significant increases in walking and cycling? How is progress being made to achieve the modal shift that is required in order to meet various targets and commitments in the years ahead?

One of the key points in the Withers review is about having parity of esteem of different routes, so that people can find their best role in the world, use their skills and pursue their passions. Whether it is creating a start-up or going to work for an established entity, is there enough creativity in how young people are able to progress into the opportunities of the digital economy?

So you are still strongly of the view that the curriculum needs to change to make it more attractive.

A bit of that extracurricular programming initiative happens in my constituency, but it is third sector led, in collaboration with the school through pupil equity fund money.

That leads into my next question. You are of the view that the curriculum needs to change to make it more attractive, but do we need to get more people who are working and succeeding in the digital sphere, in all its variety, into classrooms to talk about the huge opportunities that there are, whether that is working in software engineering for a big financial firm or designing code in the computer games industry? That would expose young people to the huge plethora of opportunities that there are and to the idea that the opportunities will grow. How do we do that? Anecdotally, that will be happening a lot, but how do we get it more systematically, comprehensively and consistently into a position where young people are realising the opportunities that they could be engaged in?

So time will tell. Thank you.

Convener, I will let colleagues ask their questions and see what happens.

Thank you.

Good morning, and thank you for your time.

Building on what has already been said—and I appreciate the comments that have already been made about the process—can you say a bit more about what redress children and young people might have if the principles are not followed? What is the process for seeking redress?

Good morning, Professor Logan. I want to go into how we attract young people into computer science and related industries and pathways, and the variety of opportunities that exist. I also have a few questions about the challenge of attracting people to teach and to speak to young people about the opportunities.

Like your STER report, the Withers review garnered a lot of respect and interest. To what extent might the structural changes to the skills landscape in Scotland proposed in the Withers review help to address some of the barriers to increasing digital skills?