Meeting of the Parliament 20 January 2026
I appreciate the member’s point. That is not my understanding of the situation, but, of course, I was not the minister during that period. However, I can say that there has been significant engagement between the Scottish Government, Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council on engaging with staff, and that will continue at pace through the bill’s implementation. All staff involved and their professionalism and their commitment have helped build the system that we have today, and they will all be central to delivering the change that we need in the years ahead.
Speaking of stakeholders, I want to take a moment to commend Fiona Drouet for seeing the opportunity presented by the bill to further her EmilyTest campaign and ensure that no family has to experience the loss of a child attending college or university as a result of gender-based violence. Fiona challenged us all to do more on that vital issue, and I thank her and Pam Gosal MSP, who supported her, for doing so. The amendment that was passed at stage 3, and which we worked on together, goes as far as we can to prevent such violence in the future, and I hope that it achieves its purpose.
Stage 3 is, of course, the point at which Parliament must decide whether the bill provides the right framework for the reform that so many agreed is needed. I know that views differ on whether the focus of the bill should have been to strengthen how our education and skills system is currently constructed or to undertake structural reform. I have thought about that issue very carefully since taking up post, and the firm conclusion that I have reached—and it is the strong position of the Government—is that we can do both, and that we must do both.
I accept that not every member will agree with every provision in the bill, but I hope that we can all recognise the care with which the bill has been developed, the evidence on which it is based and the genuine efforts that have been made to listen and respond to concerns during the whole process.