Meeting of the Parliament 24 June 2026 [Draft]
I associate myself completely with the remarks that the minister just made. My supplementary concentrates on supporting our universities—I think that we can find some common ground on that.
Yesterday, the principal of the University of Glasgow informed staff that a voluntary severance scheme would be launched. Jobs are on the line and, understandably, university staff are worried about what it will mean for the future. In the past decade, there has been a 39 per cent real-terms cut to Government funding for Scottish students. Does the minister appreciate how concerning that news of the scheme is for staff and trade unions involved in the University of Glasgow and, more broadly, does he accept that something needs to change to fix the damage that his Government has done to Scotland’s universities?