4. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the finance secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding the potential impact of the reduction in the funding allocation for Scottish universities in its proposed budget on graduate skills development and employability. (S6O-02969)

Our block grant funding for the budget, which is derived from United Kingdom Government spending decisions, has fallen by 1.2 per cent in real terms since 2022-23. Against that challenging fiscal environment, tough decisions have had to be made. I have had a number of discussions with the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills about funding for her portfolio, as I do for every portfolio.

Although the 2024-25 budget is the most challenging budget that has been delivered under devolution, it still allocates nearly £2 billion to universities and colleges to support their delivery of high-quality education, training and research. We will work with the Scottish Funding Council and the sector on how to use the available budget to best effect in line with our priorities.

The Scottish Government has committed up to £90 million in 2024-25 to employability support. That underlines our commitment to the no-one-left-behind approach as we, together with local partners, support those who need it most.

The Scottish Government is set to provide guidance to the Scottish Funding Council on budget allocation for the 2024-25 academic year on the basis of a real-terms cut of more than £141 million to the council’s budget in the financial settlement for higher education in the 2024-25 fiscal year. In the light of that, alongside the shocking admission by the finance secretary that more than 1,200 places will no longer be available to Scottish students, will she confirm that there will be no additional budget cuts to university teaching grants in the current academic year as a consequence of the December budget, and will she provide information on what alternative routes for success will be made available to school leavers in Scotland?

Let us remind ourselves of the origins of the 1,200 places to which Sharon Dowey referred. They were funded by United Kingdom Government Covid moneys, which then stopped. Despite our efforts to make the UK Government continue to provide those Covid moneys, it did not do so. Despite that, the Scottish Government continued to fund the places for two years on a temporary basis, on the clear understanding that that was not a sustainable position. [

Interruption

.]

The Presiding Officer:

Let us hear the cabinet secretary.

Instead of complaining about the impact of her Government’s cuts to Scottish Government budgets, perhaps

Sharon Dowey should have put a bit more effort into lobbying her UK Government partners for a better funding settlement for Scotland. That would have meant that we could get a little bit further, but it might have just been too much effort for Sharon Dowey to do that.

Yesterday, the Deputy First Minister was unable to tell MSPs how many university places for Scottish students would have to be cut to meet the £28.5 million reduction in university funding in her budget. Universities Scotland says that one of two things will happen: there will be either far fewer students or far less money per student. Universities Scotland is clear that it is up to the Scottish National Party Government to decide, so which is it?

As I said at the Finance and Public Administration Committee’s meeting yesterday, the Scottish Funding Council will have to work with universities in relation to the number of places. I have been clear on the funding source for the 1,200 places and the reasons why we cannot continue to fund them. Aside from that issue, we will work with the SFC to identify the remaining savings that are required, which amount to less than 2 per cent of the budget. The number of places will be agreed with the Scottish Funding Council.

In a really tough settlement, £2 billion has been delivered for higher and further education. If Michael Marra or anyone else in the chamber believes that more funding should be provided for higher education, they can suggest from where else in the budget the money should come. As part of the budget process, I look forward to hearing from Michael Marra what the spending priorities should be.