Hansard

I am delighted to place on record the Government’s appreciation for the work that is undertaken at Cumbernauld College, which I am certain will support many people of all ages in Cumbernauld and Kilsyth and the wider North Lanarkshire area.

As regards the role of colleges and its relationship with the budget, my original budget proposals included maintaining the number of student places in the college sector, which was negotiated between the Government and the college sector. The final budget increased the provision that was available, following dialogue and negotiation with the Liberal Democrats, who attached priority to increasing the number of college places and college bursaries. I was very happy to agree that with the Liberal Democrats.

However, after all the work that we put into the budget, I was rather surprised that the Liberal Democrats’ measures to enhance it were voted against by Ms Craigie and her colleagues. I am at a loss to understand how, when there is an apparent interest in economic recovery and an ability to reach agreement across the political spectrum, Ms Craigie could not support the budget. For Ms Craigie to come to Parliament and ask me questions about those points when she voted against all those pieces of good news in the budget leaves me even more bewildered by the position of the Labour Party.