 The next item of business is a member's business debate on motion 4-703, in the name of Willie Rennie, on the future of Elmwood campus. The debate will be concluded without any questions being put, and I would ask those members who wish to speak in the debate to press the request to speak buttons. Now I call on Willie Rennie to open the debate. Mr Rennie, seven minutes are there about, please. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. You encouraged the members in the gallery to leave quietly. Of course, they could stay if they wish to listen to this debate. Yes, you may stay if you wish to be entertained by Mr Rennie. I am grateful for the opportunity to debate Elmwood campus, formerly Elmwood College in Cooper in my constituency. It is a great seat of learning that is open for business, with great staff, students and courses. The bad news is that, according to the Scottish funding council, following the transfer of fife colleges off our Elmwood campus to other campuses in the area, provision at the Elmwood campus of Scotland's rural college, SRUC, is no longer viable. The good news is that I know that the minister will be keen to assist and will want to provide sufficient guarantees to ensure that there is a vibrant centre of education in the heart of North East Fife for years to come. I want her to broker an agreement with Fife College and SRUC, find the revenue for student activity to ensure a critical mass of activity, and a new building to replace the existing ageing buildings. Elmwood began its life back in the 50s with around 100 students, with a new purpose building in the 60s before becoming Elmwood agriculture-owned technical college, the first regional farm centre in Scotland in 1972 with around 2,000 students. Strathedon hospital farm was purchased in 1971 to offer hill farming and shepherding courses. In 1997, the college became the first education establishment in Britain to have its own 18-hole working golf course. Only nine miles from St Andrew's, the golf is recognised globally. Students of the HNC and HND in professional golf have found careers as PGA assistants at world-famous clubs such as Gullin, North Berwick, Ladybank, Royal Trun and numerous clubs across Europe and Dubai. Elmwood became part of the SRUC on 1 October 2012. Today, the Scottish Rural College, Elmwood campus, offers courses in animal care, sport, golf, greenkeeping, hot culture, hospitality and rural skills. What is the problem? The problem is that, when the Government decided to split Elmwood between Fife College and the SRUC, the settlement was inherently unstable. SRUC had a well-publicised leadership issue, and there are clear financial issues, too, with significant cuts imposed by the Scottish Government to the FE budget. Elmwood was left rudderless. SRUC were uncommunicative and unresponsive to concerns from Fife College and its staff in Cooper. The sale of the farm and courses moving to other centres such as Oatridge compounded the problem. The division of the campus between Fife College and SRUC created instability, with Fife claiming that it was unsustainable for them. They had none of the assets but were expected to pay for a share of the costs. Fife College, subsequently, rather hastily, pulled out, promising to provide entry-level courses in local schools such as Bell-Baxter High School, which has not happened. The combination of the withdrawal of Fife and some of the courses by SRUC having left Elmwood campus underutilised is why the current set-up has been judged by the Scottish funding council as not viable. North East Fife has a long agricultural heritage. That was the reason for the location of the college in the first place. With the home of golf at St Andrews on its doorstep, the golf provision, both in terms of greenkeeping and sport, is a clear draw for students. North East Fife is a rural and remote area and needs a further education provision to provide access locally. We have a centre of learning with excellent staff operating right now. Those are the reasons why the college in Cooper is essential. We will need a new building that is fit for purpose and combines the needs of rural education with SRUC and further education through Fife College. The current building has a significant maintenance cost attached, so it needs to be replaced. If I can gently say to the minister that those problems only really began when the regionalisation of colleges was introduced by the Government, I would therefore equally gently suggest that the Government has a responsibility to secure a longer-term future. The Scottish funding council has issued a tender for our study to be done. It is entitled North East Fife FE curriculum study, and it starts as follows. Following the transfer of Fife colleges offered at Elmwood campus to other campuses in the area, provision at Elmwood campus of Scotland's rural college is no longer viable. As a consequence, there is a need through an evidence-based study to identify the curriculum needs for the area and develop a viable model for its delivery. The remit is as follows. To identify an appropriate curriculum offer for North East Fife that meets the economic needs and student demand for the area. To consider and identify speciality courses aligned with the economic development strategy for North East Fife that would attract students from outside of the area. To identify a viable delivery model for the area, including shared and co-location options, that sounds promising. The trouble is that the work is to be carried out through March and April, but to be ready for the academic year 2018 and 2019, we need decisions to be made now. We need the combination of rural education and further education, including entry-level and full-time FE courses, and that needs to be provided in the Cooper area in a new building. We need a joint plan, funding for more student places and a new building. That is the challenge for the minister today, and I look forward to her response. I thank Willie Rennie too for bringing forward today's motion on Elmwood campus in Cooper. When I was growing up, it was known as Elmwood college. You could go there to get your hair cut. Indeed, my friends and I regularly did for the bargain price of £10, which, as you might know, I have a little more here than Willie Rennie, so I am sure that you will agree that it was quite a bargain in the year of 2001. In your last year at school, you could go and study for a higher in psychology, allowing many of my friends to pick up the extra credits that they needed to get into university. Every May, my mum and others from all over North East Fife would descend upon the college in the summer open day to locate the perfect hanging baskets that were beautifully planted and prepared by the students. It is of course of vital importance to the rural economy in the northern part of the kingdom for the future gamekeepers and farmers that continues today to provide a stepping stone from school into employment for many. I met previously with the former principal of the college, Hugh Logan. Mr Logan was of the view that there were issues with the maintenance of college buildings and that the issue with the states was not specific to the Cooper campus. Last year, I visited the new Levenmouth College campus, where full-time programmes were transferred from Elmwood. My colleague David Torrance MSP and I met lecturers and students to discuss their experiences in the new building. Beauty students now have access to state-of-the-art facilities with treatment rooms. Hair students have access to a modern salon, tell care students to spaces, tutorial rooms and Wi-Fi access across the building. The campus has been supported by £25 million of investment from the Scottish Government, and it sits alongside the new Levenmouth academy. A lot of the staff in the new building have to travel, however, from North East Fife to their new workplace in Buckhaven. Although the facilities are excellent and the staff wear positive about their surroundings, transport links to the new campus are still in their infancy. Many of my constituents in the Glenwathus area spoke of the difficulties that they have had in accessing the buses, some having to catch two or three different buses, and the infrequency of the service. The issue is perhaps even more so when you consider the reality of North East Fife and the distances that people travel from places such as Taipur or Amstradd, for example, along in the East Newark. On a specific point with regard to my constituency, I would be remiss in my duty as a constituency member for Mid Fife and Glenwathus, not to emphasise the importance of infrastructure to the minister today, particularly the need for the reinstatement of the Levenmouth rail link. Education and closing the poverty-related attainment gap is the number one priority for the Scottish Government, but we need the transport links to join up aspiration and ambition in the next generation to enable young people to access the vital learning and job opportunities. That is of particular importance when you consider that in 2015-16, the college delivered 8.4 per cent of activities to students from the country's 10 per cent most deprived areas. That is an increase from 8.2 per cent in 2014-15 and 7.9 per cent in 2013-14 respectively, so things are getting worse. Since last summer, the Elmwood campus has been run completely by Elmwood's rural college, as Willie Rennie has said. The land-based courses that Elmwood has always had a good reputation for continue to run, such as gamekeeping, wildlife management, horticulture and a selection of golf and greenkeeping-related qualifications. Notwithstanding, the Government has recognised the need to review curriculum provision, and since the end of last month, rocket science consultants have been commissioned to do exactly that. Although I am the member for the neighbouring constituency, I very much hope that rocket science consultants reconsider curriculum provision at Elmwood. For the young people like me, who grew up in the wee towns and villages of North East Fife, where the buses are not regular and there is no rail service, let us look again at Elmwood to ensure that all students and would-be students get equal access to further education opportunities wherever they live in Fife. Just clarifying, it is rocket science consultants. My goodness, there is an aim. I call the Smith to be followed by Alec Rowley, please. I hope that the Deputy Presiding Officer is not thinking of changing your profession. Can I begin by thanking Willie Rennie for bringing his business to the chamber today and for the motion that he has submitted in Parliament, and for giving us the opportunity to debate the future of Elmwood campus in the Scottish Rural University College in Cooper? I take the opportunity to thank all the staff and the students for the outstanding work that they do, particularly in an area of North East Fife, which some consider to be a little more isolated in terms of accessing further and higher education and the problems that Jenny Gilruth has just referred to in terms of making sure that they can actually get there. Along with St Andrews, Cooper is a town that I know very well, and I admire its very proud agricultural heritage and its role as a very important market town for the surrounding area. Its economy reflects that heritage with major employers in the area, including, obviously, agribusiness such as Kettle Produce Ltd, Scots Fruit Ltd, Quaker Oats Ltd and Fisherland Donaldson. One of the other large employers in the town is the Elmwood campus itself, part of that agricultural heritage in the area. That is just one of the strong reasons for ensuring that everything possible is done to secure its future. Willie Rennie is quite right to point to the challenges facing the college at a time of financial stringency, of changing roles for colleges, of the widening access programme, colleges being asked to deliver more in terms of higher education courses and the on-going challenges faced by the post-merger era that he referred to and which Audit Scotland said in its most recent report that has brought some additional pressures. The three parts to Elmwood's campus on the Carsloggy Road itself, the golf course facility at Stratheddon, which is 1997, and Cooper Muir Farm, have all had their very distinctive courses on offer, whether they be in animal care, sport, culture or cwcry, whatever it might be. As today's motion notes, the college has been especially well known for its golf and greenkeeping courses, in which it has had world-leading expertise and has produced a number of most distinguished golfing alumni. The facilities at the college campus in Stratheddon are excellent, given that it is the only educational facility in the country with its own 18-hole golf course, and we are better to have it as a short hop away from St Andrews in the home of golf. Clearly, in recent times, there has been a history of difficult issues at the college, whether that has been some of the weaknesses in collaboration between Fife College and SRUC, the tough financial cuts that colleges have faced or concerns about future job cuts, and naturally, with the SFC now questioning some of the viability of Elmwood set against that economic background, staff and students have a right to feel somewhat threatened when it comes to the educational opportunities available and the obvious implications that that has for staff morale and, indeed, student morale. Can I add my support to what Willie Rennie has said about the splitting of Elmwood between Fife College and SRUC and the inherent instability of that arrangement? Although I recognise that there is a funding issue here, and I think that it is quite a big funding issue, he is right to call for measures that can put the college on a more sustainable footing. College education is really vital because it has the best chance of responding quickly to the needs of the local economy, whether that is in the term of apprenticeships, part-time, more flexible courses, which, sadly, have been the ones that have suffered in so many of the recent cuts, or responding to a more diverse and fast-changing labour market, and both of those could hardly be more important in an area where the access to further education is perhaps a little bit more limited than it is in some other areas. I think that diversity and provision of responding to needs of local economies is one of the most powerful arguments. The call for the minister to broker a deal on an agreement between Fife College and SRUC is an important one. I think that there is a lot that we can do to try and move that process forward, and I hope that the minister will take up that point. I understand that this is a difficult situation, and it has a backdrop against some of the difficult challenges in the college sector, but I give support to Willie Rennie in the hope that we can move things forward, so I am happy to support the motion. I also would like to speak briefly in support of Willie Rennie's motion that he has brought here today, and to recognise the campaign that Willie Rennie has been running over a period of time to get recognition of the difficulties that the college faces. I think that that is an important point to make to the minister, because Mr Rennie is calling on the minister to give a guarantee that the Government will take steps necessary to ensure the future viability of the college. That is a campaign that would be supported not just in North East Fife but a campaign that would be supported right across Fife. Elmwood College has played an important part in Fife over many, many years, not just in terms of the agricultural industry that is predominant to North East Fife, but it is also an industry that creates jobs right across Fife. I certainly know that, at a very early age, I was aware of Elmwood College because one of my cousins decided to have a career as a gardener and attended Elmwood College when I was a little boy and recently retired. His whole life was a career as a gardener and a very successful one. He learned his trade at Elmwood College. I also have many friends who work in golf courses and have experienced apprentice gardeners. I started off my work in life, working for local authorities as a gardener. Therefore, I have always been familiar with Elmwood College. A few years ago, I attended an event that was organised by the Fife Society for the Blind when it opened specific facilities at Elmwood College that had been gifted through a local trust investment. I remember meeting a number of pupils and tutors from a specialist support unit that was in the college at that time and supported people on the astistic spectrum and the provision and support that was there were second to none. Elmwood College has played an important part in Fife. To reiterate the split that came between Fife College and the Scottish Rural College has not worked out for Elmwood College, but there are a number of reasons that are set out today by Mr Rennie as to why that would be the case. One of them is the actual building itself. Part of the ask has got to be that, if we are serious about continuing with Elmwood College, then we need to look at the actual facilities themselves. Kenneth Gibson and the First Minister's question talked about a bumper year for tourism. I spoke at an event last night in Dumfirmland where we were launching an ambitious programme for a national artwork to be in the Dumfirmland area, up at Celtic junction 4. The point that I made was that far too often we have that wonderful new bridge that is there. We have the two other fourth bridges, the road bridge and the fourth bridge. People come to Edinburgh to resume, then come across those bridges right up through Fife, out to the other side of Fife and up into the highlands. We need to do more for people to stay in Fife. We have some of the best golf courses and the most famous golf courses in the country, the outdoor facilities, Lochor, Meadows, Country Park. There is a lot of ambition in Fife to develop the outdoor activities. Outdoor tourism in Fife is a major contributor to the Fife family. Can I ask you to wind up on this tourist plug for Fife? I am a bit lost about Elmwood College in this. Therefore, the role of Elmwood College in providing the support, training and skills to develop that tourism in Fife is crucial. We need the investment in Elmwood. I am happy to support Mr Rennie today. I should not try to teach an old dog you trick. She got me there. Can I call Mark Ruskell, full by Dean Lockhart, last speaker in the open debate, Mr Lockhart. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I thank Willie Rennie for bringing this debate to the chamber here this lunchtime and also his wider efforts in championing a sustainable future for Elmwood College. I know that he has worked on this for many years. It has been clear that, for a number of years, arrangements at Elmwood have not been living up to the needs of the communities that it serves. I think that it is regrettable that it has now come to a crisis point. I would like to just briefly consider the wider context of Elmwood's situation and highlight some points that I hope the SFC study that is currently under way will take into account. First, on the issue of college regionalisation that Willie Rennie raised, while it is fair to say that regionalisation process instigated by the SNP Government in the last session has had its troubles, it is important to acknowledge that regionalisation is not the sole reason why the situation at Elmwood has arisen. In fact, the University of the Highlands and Islands provides a world-leading example of how, when well done, regionalising education provision can have huge benefits to some of our most rural areas, creating opportunities for study, work and specialist training right in the hearts of communities that need it. The initial partnership between SRUC and Fife College at Elmwood was an acknowledgement that the campus delivered specialist rural training and education that Fife College was not able to provide. With proper support and willingness on all sides, that could have been a fruitful partnership. I would urge the SFC and ministers to learn from the example that is set by UHI and its partnerships with specialist institutions such as North Atlantic Fisheries College and Salmo Osteig to see how that can be done successfully. We should also recognise the wider challenges facing both the further education sector and our rural communities more generally, which have contributed to making college provision at Elmwood untenable. The lack of clear and accessible financial support for college students continues to make further education an unattracted prospect for many people. In our own manifesto last year, we called for funding parity between college and university students, so those studying institutions such as Elmwood can have the same certainty of financial support that their friends study at university receive. Implementing that could have a major impact on college admissions, not just at Elmwood but across the further education sector. However, as Jenny Gilruth has already highlighted, the patchy and increasingly expensive public transport service in North East Fife is also a contributing factor, with many people finding the mayors will travel to Perth, Dundee or St Andrews for education as battling their way on a slow local bus service to Cooper. I would encourage the SFC to consider the wider problems of our rural communities when designing a suitable model for further education in North East Fife. If we are to provide funding to create further college places, we need to ensure that those are on courses that people want to study and delivered in a way that suits their lifestyles. We know that North East Fife has an older than average population to the rest of Scotland, and in reality, many prospective students are not school leavers but are of working age or older people who want to return to employment after a break, fit in study around caring responsibilities or learn a new skill later in life. The pattern that we have seen in recent years of cutting part-time and flexible learning courses to focus on full-time vocational training does not always suit the needs of this demographic and may well be a major contributor to the fall in student numbers that we have seen at Elmwood. To be honest, it has been in decline some time before Fife College withdrew from the campus. Lastly, I commend the work of the supported accommodation service at Elmwood. Alex Rowley has already mentioned that, which provides safe and supported loving for seven SRUC students who have additional needs. That provision is all too rare and faces its own financial challenges, often relying on additional funding from third-party organisations and families. I strongly advise the SFC to help to maintain and enhance that service. Thank you very much. I call Dean Lockhart. Mr Lockhart, please. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Let me start by thanking Willie Rennie for bringing this motion to the chamber and securing this important debate today on the future of Elmwood campus. Elmwood campus is located in Cooper, as we have heard, which is the historic county town in Fife with a strong history in agriculture and is still regarded as an important market town. The area around Cooper is also well known, as we have heard, for its world-famous golf courses, with the campus being only nine miles from St Andrews. Given the agricultural and golfing background, it is not surprising that Elmwood is well known for offering a range of agricultural and golf-related courses. Before looking at some of the challenges faced by the campus, I think that it is worthwhile considering the benefits and future potential of the diverse range of courses on offer. The agricultural courses on offer help to provide rural businesses across Scotland with a well-skilled workforce. Scotland's rural industry is constantly changing and in order to meet the needs of this industry and provide students with the necessary skills base, we should be supporting colleges such as Elmwood in developing this growing range of specialist education. In relation to the golfing education available, Elmwood has gained global recognition as a premier training provider to the golf industry, not only in Scotland, but it is increasingly involved in activities beyond the UK and attracts many students from overseas. The golf programmes lead to degree and master degree courses and provision. The campus is quite rightly positioning itself as being the home of golf education, and there is a huge market that it can potentially look to serve. The golf industry in the UK is expanding and employes more than 75,000 people. Golfers in the UK spent £4 billion on the sport last year, and golf tourism to Scotland is also a major part of the tourist sector in Scotland. Given the unique offering from the Elmwood campus, I would urge the minister to also have a conversation with her colleagues in the economy brief to see what Scottish development international can do to promote the various golf courses to students overseas. An increase of students from overseas would help to gain and create a critical mass of students, especially students in Asia where the market for golf and golf knowledge is experiencing significant growth. I am personally not a golf expert but I can see the attractions of studying golf a mere 10 minutes away from the home of golf. On a less positive note, as Willie Rennie has highlighted, there are challenges in relation to achieving that critical mass of students and resources available at Elmwood. Other members have explained the detailed issues, so I would like to highlight a few of them. There is a local economy dimension to the debate. It is important to recognise the valuable contribution that the campus brings to north-east Fife and the surrounding economy, its employment opportunities, the provision of skilled graduates and the overall contribution to the local economy. In addition, further education options in north-east Fife are limited, which makes the debate all the more important. To lose Elmwood campus would be a further blow to an area that has already seen a reduction in the availability of college courses who live in the Cooper area and surrounding towns. There is also a timing consideration, as Willie Rennie noted. The outcome of the study being undertaken by the SFC looking into possible alternative options will only be available for the academic year 2018-19, which is not ideal. Students and staff are looking for clarity sooner rather than later, so I encourage the minister to look at the timetable as well. On that note, I would also like, as other members have done, to praise both the staff and students who work and study at Elmwood campus, who remain committed to providing high-quality education and training in north-east Fife. Collegies play a critical role in our education system. However, there are now 150,000 fewer students in colleges than 10 years ago. Further cuts, especially in rural areas such as Cooper, would be unwelcome and damaging. I would add my support to the calls on the minister to encourage an agreement between Fife College and the SRUC on securing a viable future for the Elmwood campus. I would like to thank Willie Rennie for bringing the debate to the chamber. I thank Willie Rennie for bringing the debate to the chamber. I hope that we can all agree that we are effectively seeking the same thing for the people of Cooper and the north-east Fife more generally. That is to have the right learning opportunities to meet the economic needs of the area. As you know, the Kingdom of Fife is a part of Scotland that is very close to my heart. It is therefore not only from my position as minister for further education, higher education and science that I appreciate and understand the sentiment of Willie Rennie's motion, which I broadly welcome. I hope that the rest of the chamber will fully understand the role that Elmwood has played in rural education in this country and the issues associated with Fife College vacating the campus from last summer. I am very pleased to be closing today's debate in order to outline how both institutions are being supported to ensure that the right solution is found to the residents of Cooper and north-east Fife. I begin by mentioning some of the aspects that members have brought up. One of the concerns has been about the split between the courses between Fife and SRUC. That was done to ensure that SRUC can continue to focus and specialise on the land-based education that is its remit, and that is why the decision was taken to make the split between the courses. That is not something that has been done arbitrarily, and it is not something, as one of the members suggested, that was done by Government, but it is done very much with a mind to the focus of what SRUC is all about. Other members have discussed regionalisation and, usually, in a very negative format. Can I suggest that they talk to Huw Hall, which I know Willie Rennie has already done, and he has met him, the new principal of Fife College, who very much sees that regionalisation has allowed him to take the helm of a strong strategic institution? Yes, with its challenges, but regionalisation is not seen by the college as something that is holding it back, but rather that it can take it forward to a much stronger position. As Willie Rennie rightly pointed out, following the transfer of Fife College's offer at Elmwood to other campuses in the region and concerns about the viability of Elmwood campus, the Scottish Funding Council is supporting a curriculum review of North East Fife. I will not go into the details of the remit, as Willie Rennie has already put that on the record. The Funding Council has appointed rocket science consultants at the end of February to take that work forward. As well as having a wide range of relevant inexperience, rocket science also have a very good knowledge of the area, having worked with Fife College in the past on its curriculum offer. As well as speaking to the SRUC in Fife College, the consultants are ensuring that they will speak to key stakeholders in North East Fife, including Fife Council, schools, employers, third sector groups and universities. A comprehensive set of the area's existing data will also be interrogated as part of that work. That will include the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, Labour Market Intelligence, Skills Investments Plans, Regional Skills Assessments, and we have my commitment that transport issues will be considered in that matter, too. The study is due to be completed in the first week of May, and I look forward to it identifying a model for the area that works best for SRUC and Fife College, but most importantly, the one that works best for the region and the people of North East Fife. It is my understanding that SRUC is currently in the process of developing a new strategic plan, and that will include a thorough review of their estate strategy. It will be important that they continue to have a dialogue with the Scottish Funding Council during that process. We have to recognise, however, that SRUC, as a higher education institution, is an autonomous body and is not a college, and therefore has responsibility for its strategic decision making. The Scottish Government and Scottish ministers are ultimately unable to intervene in their internal institutional matters such as those relating to estates. We do, after all, hold dear the autonomy of our higher education institutions. However, we would expect the decisions to be made that will have a wider impact on Fife to be done in full consultation with staff and students, and that consideration is always given to the minimising the impact on the student experience. It is therefore encouraging that SRUC have stated that they have no plans to withdraw from the Elmwood campus and that they are actively recruiting students for the start of the 2017-18 academic year. Students will still have the opportunity to study a wide range of exciting courses, many of which the members have already mentioned, including gamekeeping, wildlife management, horticulture and a selection of the excellent golf and greenkeeping related qualifications. In 2014, SRUC was designated as the national provider for land-based education and was asked by the Scottish Funding Council to take a lead on the development of a national strategy of land-based education and training for the whole of Scotland. This is a dynamic strategy and SRUC have been proactive in identifying the current and the future need of the land-based industries and works closely with its college and university partners to deliver a coherent land-based curriculum strategy for the sector that meets the needs of students, employers and the rural economy. The local presence of SRUC and its geographical reach are vital components to the delivery of the national strategy. We fully recognise the overall contribution that SRUC makes to the rural economy and the value that it brings to north-east Fife. At a time when both SRUC and Fife College are taking stock of their estates and the provision that they have in offer, it is worth noting that both institutions are under relatively new leadership. Both have the right people, I believe, at their helm to steer them through this challenging period. Professor Wayne Powell was appointed principal and chief executive of SRUC in July last year, and he has already overseen an additional five new senior management team and two new academic appointments, adding to the wealth of experience already at SRUC. It has also been announced recently that Sandy Cunningham will take up the position of SRU chairman in October. I mentioned already that Hugh Hall has become principal and chief executive of Fife College from 1 March this year. Those are men with proven track records at the forefront of further and higher education, and we welcome them and look forward to their energy and vision benefiting not just SRUC and Fife College, but also the people of north-east Fife as they find the right solution. Members have also highlighted a variety of other points that I will try to pick up on. Alex Shelley is quite right to point to the wealth of tourism opportunities in the Fife area. I am sorry, I missed him when he was at the fire station creative last night, I heard it very well. There are also other places for the citizens' spire, I would suggest, perhaps in the firm constituency, but we will take that perhaps for another conversation. Jenny Gilruth pointed to the importance of the leave-and-mouth rail link, which I appreciate is one of the rail links that is being looked at in Fife. I believe that the transport minister is encouraging all the campaign groups in the area to bring their business cases forward. It will be a welcome development in Fife where we can see investment like that. I know that the transport minister is keen to ensure that all types of community campaigns for rail links develop their business cases and ensure that that is brought forward. On wider student issues, Mark Ruskell mentioned student support. He will no doubt be aware of the current student support review that is on-going, which is looking at the various aspects of how we can have a system that benefits not only those in Fife and Itchy and ensures that we value the students in both. I say very gently to Dean Lockhart, however, about encouraging students from overseas. It would really help us if the UK Government could clarify the status of EU nationals after Brexit and perhaps have a mitigation policy that would allow us to bring more international students into the country. I think that Mr Lockhart has my full support on that. I hope that he is making it to the UK Government and his Conservative colleagues at the same time as the Scottish Government. He will have my full support on that. Willie Rennie, but I have to say that the minister is coming close to overtime. I welcome what she has had to say, but could you perhaps address the point about timing that if we are going to have some format, some viable option for the future and we want it in place for the academic year 2018-19? We need decisions to be made quite soon. Could she address that issue? With Presiding Officer warning me about my timing, I will refer him to what I have already said about SRUC's commitment to encourage new students for this academic year. I hope that members have been assured about this Government's continued support for further education and higher education support provision in north-east Fife. I am more than happy to continue to work with members in this chamber and other local representatives to ensure that we find the right solution for the people in north-east Fife and the economic realities that we want to bring to that area and can come to fruition with a very well-supported further education institution that is remaining within that area. A nice to spend this meeting of Parliament until 2.30.