 Ar eich ddadu gynesai, roedden nhw'n mynd i ddechrau sianfod 1, Ff5, 0,5, 2 yn y mae'r gael Ross i ddweud Mae chi'n mynd i'r ffyrdd yng Nghymru i'r mewn iawn i'n gymryd yn credu'r lleolau i gynhyrchu i'r ddiolchol. Rhywbeth yn leiriadau o'r ddwaith gyffredinol os ygrydigaeth aelodol i'r leirio iherwydd ei tyw'r cyffredinol. Roedd hynny mynd i ddod chargesion teulu Tiwrn i'r ddweud, ac mae'n rhaid i'r ddweud yn cael sicrhau ond ei amser. Roedd angen i'r ddweud i'r跆ונהeth aelodol i'r brosesion i amser Work and study—some were for people to come home to. Although retaining our young people has been difficult in the past, new strategies offering the conditions they need to thrive in the Highlands and Islands are starting to have effect. In November, Highlands and Islands Enterprise published the results of their latest survey, Young People in the Highlands and Islands maximising opportunity. That study had two main aims. From the document itself, it says to provide an overview of the evolving attitudes and aspirations of young people in the Highlands and Islands, how those have changed since 2015, and to identify gaps within the current provision of education, training and employment, and consider how opportunities can be maximised for young people. The population of the Highlands and Islands was approximately 470,000 in 2016, according to the study. However, those aged 15 to 30 only comprise 17 per cent of the population compared to 21 per cent across Scotland as a whole. This deficit is mostly acutely felt in the Outer Hebrides, Lochaber, Skye, Wester Ross, Argyll and our Islands. The first stat that jumps out of the report tells us that 55 per cent of young people are committed to staying in the region. That is up from 43 per cent in 2015. There is also evidence of an increase in potential returners, those with an interest in an attraction to living in the region that are from the Highlands and Islands but living elsewhere. 69 per cent of those who do stay feel that they are lucky to be able to work or study locally. That is up from 62 per cent in 2015. 60 per cent of young people think that the Highlands and Islands has a good educational offering. That is up from 56 per cent in 2015. There is now less of a perception that the young people that stay lack ambition due to the range of further and higher education available. There is no doubt that the University of the Highlands and Islands is having a positive effect on keeping our young people in the area and attracting young people from throughout the UK and the world to study and stay in our area. North Highland College, which is a partner in the UHI, is one of Scotland's top colleges for positive student destinations, boasting rates of 90 per cent, a statistic that I know everyone involved is extremely proud of. To add to that, North Highland College and West Highland College student leavers have the highest progression rates into work at 40 per cent, well above the national average. This is North Highland College's third year of delivering foundation apprenticeships, a very welcome endeavour supported by the European social fund and enjoyed by young people who have taken the opportunity to learn this way throughout the area. This year, the subjects that young people can study have been increased by introducing business skills, IT, hardware and system support and engineering is awaiting approval. These new subjects send a powerful message to young people that the Highlands are not only open for business, we are open for innovation and success too. At this point, I would like to draw the chamber's attention to my register of interest as an adviser to the board of North Highland College. 87 per cent of young people are proud to be associated with their community, and this is up from 78 per cent in 2015. 64 per cent want to work in the region, up from 44 per cent. I mentioned foundation apprenticeships before, and there is no doubt that the developing the young workforce initiative has been pivotal in pulling together schools, colleges and the public and private sector and encouraged them to work together in a way that they never did before. The Cadence and Sutherland group is facilitated by Cadence Chamber of Commerce and has provided a wide range of employment and career development activities and support, which has been given and led to an increased number of work placements, employability workshops and events, employer-led mock interviews and STEM opportunities. The development of STEM has been further boosted through support from the Highlands City region deal. This is £315 million worth of funding, consisting of £135 million from the Scottish Government, £127 million from the Highlands Council and its partners and £53 million from the UK Government. Those are good stats, but, just like real life, not everything goes up and not everything is good news, so for balance. The numbers participating in their communities is down by 9 per cent, and that statistic surprised me because I attended a youth volunteer award ceremony in Wick in November, and there were loads of young people there. All active in the community, all extremely proud to be receiving their awards, and I know that our islands also have a strong cohort of young volunteers having met some of them in the Parliament last year. Another 38 per cent say that a lack of local opportunities is a barrier to achieving employment goals, and while 71 per cent were happy with the choice of subjects they can study, 46 per cent felt that the range of subjects available will limit their post-school options. That rises to 63 per cent in fragile areas. There is no doubt that there can be issues with school subject choices in rural areas, and one of the main barriers to that is teacher recruitment. I raised the subject of probationary teachers being allocated earlier in the school year to allow more flexibility with subject choices and timetables, and the education secretary assured me that that was something that he would look into. Half of young people agree that their community is a place where it is okay to be different, and that is the same as 2015. However, research by LGBT Youth Scotland shows that, in rural areas, 81 per cent of LGBT young people experience at least one form of bullying in education, and that 9 per cent of lesbian, gay or bisexual and 27 per cent of transgender young people left education because of that. That is only one of the reasons that an inclusive approach to education is even more important in the Highlands and Islands. In conclusion, that is a welcome report that shows more and more young people are realising and taking advantage of the opportunities offered to them to enable them to live, study and work in the Highlands and Islands. We have always had an issue with depopulation, but we should never completely halt this outward migration and neither should we seek to. They will always want to broaden their horizons, whether that is in other parts of Scotland or in other parts of the world. What that study shows is that we are empowering young people with more choice, and the days that have been forced away from your community because there are fewer prospects of studying and employment are becoming a thing of the past. We need to build on that work, ensure that those figures continue to rise, especially in our fragile communities, in areas such as provision and access to opportunities, education, training and engagement with arts, leisure and culture activities. We also need to make sure that there is adequate housing for those who choose to stay or want to come back. Two or three new houses could make a huge difference in places such as Loch Carin, Kinloch Berfey or Apple Cross. I will leave you with a quote from the report. The Highlands and Islands is such a wonderful place and I always love telling people that that is where I am from, me too. We move to the open debate. Speeches of four minutes, please. Jamie Halcro Johnston, followed by Rhoda Grant. Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I welcome this debate. I congratulate Gail Ross on bringing it to the chamber. As the Highlands and Islands MSP, I am perhaps biased. I think that our region is one of the most diverse, most beautiful and friendliest in Scotland. The region has drawn many in, charmed by our landscape and sense of community, and it is undoubtedly a spectacular place to live. It is certainly not without its challenges nor are they new. For generations, many people born in the Highlands and Islands have looked further afield for opportunities. They have felt that they cannot continue their education or progress in their chosen career and remain in the land where they were born and raised. There is undoubtedly a sense of this in rural communities across our country. Young people will often move away for university or work. What cannot be denied is the extent to which this is more pronounced than the Highlands and Islands. As high survey indicates, people aged 15 to 30 are 17 per cent of the population of our region, as opposed to 21 per cent across Scotland as a whole. There is a divide here too. In some of the Western Isles and West Highlands, the figure is even lower yet. One of the most pronounced impacts of rural living early on in a person's life is education. The impact of subject choices is significant. Even where we see innovation, such as the extension of foundation apprenticeships, we still see choice narrow in more remote communities. Some may suggest that this is natural. That is a consequence of the choice to live in rural communities. It is simply what you would expect where a lower density of population exists. That will certainly be true in some aspects of life, but there is also a stronger theory that Government exists to expand opportunity to share prosperity and to provide services that are similar across its population. As far back as we can reasonably analyse, Scotland has always had a higher public spending than the UK average. Today we see that delivered through the Barnett formula. The chief justification for that disparity is that we have these geographical and demographic challenges, where we might ask, is that additional expenditure going if not on creating a level playing field in public services within Scotland itself? There will always be a pool to a local community being close to friends and family, the sense of home. For many that pool will not be loosened by the odd difficulty. However, for these communities, the challenges of staying can be overwhelming. As a young person leaves school and looks to their future, they might be able to accept a narrower level of choice in their education, but they might consider other possibilities too. Can they get public transport to college, university or training? Can they be sure that they will be able to pick up a part-time job to supplement their income? Those are areas where Government can take a greater lead. Preferably Government at a local level, Government that is responsive to the particular needs of remote and rural communities. My party has often pushed for localism. Decentralisation will be part of any solution, and yet our established organs of local government are struggling more than ever. I mentioned foundation apprenticeships, but I should also touch on some of the opportunities presented by graduate apprenticeships too. We should also consider how other elements of our education structures, like articulation from college to university, can be valuable in our region. If we can properly adapt those educational routes to our difficult geography, there not only are we increasing life chances but also providing a route for those reluctant leavers to stay. Those are just a few of the areas that could be mentioned. We could look at infrastructure from roads to broadband or the need to encourage entrepreneurship. I do not feel that those approaches are not understood by policy makers. They are. However, choices are made or not made and change can be glacial. The challenges of not making progress are stark. The future of young people in the Highlands and Islands is the future of our economy, of our public services and of the opportunities for generations to come. Rhoda Grant, followed by Jenny Gorruth. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I would like to congratulate Gail Ross on bringing forward this debate. I would also like to express my support to Highlands and Islands Enterprise for surveying young people. It is the benefit of having an enterprise company that has a social as well as an economic remit. It is heartening to know that so many young people want to live and work in the Highlands and Islands. That said, I am not against people spreading their wings and seeing a bit of the world. The Highlands and Islands are famous for sending people around the globe. Unfortunately, much of the outward migration was and is not choice but due to a lack of education and career opportunities in the region. We need to make sure that the decision to stay or leave is a real choice, enabling people to stay without compromising their life chances and career. Gail Ross said that one of the biggest developments that has stemmed outward migration is the development of the University of the Highlands and Islands. It offers excellence in many of its institutions. She spoke about North Highland College but there are many others as well. They provide normal courses that you would expect in a further education college but there is the excellence that comes from a higher education facility. It is often the combination of both that provides opportunities that are not available in other institutions. However, it is still the case that young people have to move away when their chosen course is not available locally. Otherwise, they are forced to compromise which is shown clearly by the statistics that show lower educational qualifications in those that opt to stay compared with the national figures for qualifications. Those figures also disguise movement in the area with people having to move a distance from home just to access further and higher education. That leads to internal migration by young people to the more urban areas within the Highlands and Islands. The study also showed that young people wanted to stay in the more fragile areas due to the stronger sense of community but, again, were less likely to be able to do that for career and educational reasons. A recent study in the US showed that more young people were either returning or joining the community there. There was an increase in children in primary schools because of that. That trend is due to a number of reasons, but what is crucially important to young people is work, housing and access to services. If we can provide that, we can halt depopulation and bring new life to the communities that would otherwise be dying. Another issue that Gail Ross touched on in her speech is the issue of diversity. The LGBT Youth Scotland 2017 survey showed that young LGBT people living in rural areas were more likely to have poor mental health because of fewer safe spaces for socialising. Gail Ross talked about bullying and that is totally unacceptable. While rural areas can be the best places in the world to live, no one is anonymous, it makes coming out difficult because you cannot do that gradually due to the lack of privacy. That lack of privacy makes it difficult for people with poor mental health to seek help when added to that. There is the perception and stigma. Therefore, those communities can be the most supportive. Everyone knows everyone else so that you are less likely to be looked upon as a one-dimensional person but for all your attributes. However, we all instinctively want to conform and not stand out from the crowd, so anything that appears to make you stand out can be much more difficult to deal with. The Highlands and Islands is a wonderful place to live. While I had to move, for all the reasons highlighted, where I stayed when I was a child, my first home will always be home to me. I never chose to leave and I don't want any other young person to be forced to make that choice. I start by congratulating my colleague and friend, Gail Ross MSP, on securing this evening's members' debate. Today's motion is focused on the Highlands, so I would like to begin by declaring an interest as proud descendant of a Highlander. My granny, Flora McRae, was the daughter of a crofter. My great-granddad, Donald, was also the postman for Muiravord and Muir of Taradil, where the family croft was and still stands today. For my granny and for so many of her generation, leaving the Highlands was almost a necessity. Indeed, the depopulation of that part of the country is remembered as one of the saddest times in our country's history. That is why the Highland Youth Survey is important, because it tells us the story of the next generation's ambitions and aspirations for Highland Scotland. Gail Ross' motion today rightly points to the important part that young people play in supporting thriving communities. Indeed, 70 per cent of participants in the survey considered that those who stayed in the Highlands were lucky to be able to work or study locally. I think that that speaks volumes about the opportunities now present for young people in the Highlands. Members will remember that last year marked the year of young people, which focused on inspiring the country through our young people, celebrating their achievements, valuing their contributions to communities and on creating new opportunities. Although there is no direct Fife equivalent, the Scottish Government commissioned a young people in Scotland survey and asked a number of questions to young people about their ability to make their views heard and on decisions that affect their lives. When asked about adults in general, more than half of young people surveyed and agreed that adults were good at listening to their views and that adults were good at taking their views into account when taking decisions that affected them. Young people need to have their views listened to, but they also need to be part of that decision making process. The Highlands use survey is there for encouraging, as it shows that increasing numbers of young people want to live and work in the Highlands and Islands with the proportion of committed stares increasing from 36 per cent in 2015. Deep Population, however, is not limited to the Highlands, and this week I've been lucky enough to be shadowed by an S6 pupil, Jennifer Smith, from Ock Muti High School in Glenrothes. Ahead of today's debate, I asked if she would stay in Fife when she finishes school this summer. She told me, when I leave school, I want to go to Edinburgh to live and study, and then maybe to London and maybe one day I'll come home to Fife. I completely understand Jennifer's motivations for doing so. I also grew up in Fife, and I left to go to the big smoke in Glasgow. Gail Ross did likewise. We need to balance the needs of our rural communities, like the Highlands and like Fife, with the needs of young people to explore our cities and to experience different places. We should not place a limitation on their ambitions, but rather seek to empower our young people to have a real voice in decision making from the outset. Whether that is through the school council or modern studies, 2019 is no longer the year of young people, and perhaps last year's real tests will be whether or not we continue to engage young people in our work as parliamentarians. The Highlands use survey is certainly an invaluable tool for measuring societal shifts in that part of Scotland. Reflecting the shift in responding to the survey in the press and journal, historian Jim Hunter wrote about his experiences of growing up in the Highlands last month. He said, so prevalent was the conviction that success could only be achieved elsewhere, that someone still at home when in their early twenties was likely to be seen as, by definition, a failure. Contrast his view with the young person that Gail Ross quoted earlier, who said, The Highlands and Islands is such a wonderful place and I always love telling people that is where I'm from. For Jim Hunter, what's made the difference is what he describes as a transformation in the attitudes in young people is the work done by the Highlands and Islands Enterprise through the backing of successive governments. Perhaps today I should really be calling for a Kingdom of Fife Enterprise. On a serious note to the minister, the Highlands use survey provides us with invaluable information to measure active shift. With that in mind, I will now be writing to Fife Council to ask if we can seek to learn from the survey by listening to the views of young people across the kingdom. John Finnie, to be followed by Donald Cameron. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Like others, can I start by thanking Gail Ross for bringing this debate? I think that it's a very interesting debate and congratulating him for bringing it here. An early declaration is a man lured by the bright lights of Fort William. Many years ago I've spent all but a handful of years living, born and bred in the Highlands and living there. I'm delighted that one of the early findings is that there's an increased number of young people who are committed to staying in the Highlands. I'll also absolutely go along with everyone who said, let's not be negative about people who leave. I think that it's very important that we have a rich mix. Part of that rich mix comes about because people do leave. After all, it's many people from the Highlands Islands who have gone throughout the planet doing lots of good things, often returning or often continuing to contribute there. I want to talk about something that, perhaps a small negative of the report, I was disappointed not to find that there was no mention of Brexit and there was no mention of Europe, because part of that rich mix and the big change in my time in the Highlands is the number of people from all sorts of different cultures who are contributing to making it the vibrant place it is now. I think that Brexit looms over everything. The Erasmus programme and Dr Winifred Dwing, which was the MEP that was instrumental in bringing that in and the benefits that there has been from that. The reality is that, as things stand, there is the potential that people are going to be denied some of these opportunities. The comparator for this survey was the period 2015, the previous survey to now. I think that the change is that there are the raw statistics and I've just remembered another very minor negative. Although I'm very happy to go along with my colleague Gail Ross's comment about the Northern Innovation Hub and the Science Skills Academy, it does disappoint me that £119 million, which could be doing something very constructive, is going to construct roads in the Inverness area. Roads are going to take people 12 seconds between locations at peak time. Things are about priorities and the priorities for a lot of people will be to understand the needs in any community. I think that the comments about youth participation are heartening the level of participation that there is. I think that it's very important that there are more parliamentarians that look like Gail Ross and less that look like John Finnie. I think that there are far too many men in suits and that is the very position that puts people off. I think that things are changing and they are changing for the better. I thought that it was significant that the outward migration was particularly concentrated in 19 groups. On the question of education, which has been repeated, and indeed my colleague Gail Ross was with me at Androda Grant as well, when we visited eSchool, it was an important development in the Outer Hebrids, which catered for remote learning. I think that significantly the opportunity to use video technology to allow teachers to deliver classes from their homes. When we were there, I think that it was local authorities in the north-east of Scotland for which some of the services were being provided. We need to embrace the technology. The whole collegiate system of UHI, which has been a great boost, was that small groups of people together, who by their very nature are going to be still in the communities, are contributing to the whole. I think that that's an opportunity. Many rich cultures in the highlands, the north culture in the north, there are elements with the Gaelic, particularly in Skye. In a situation in which, in my day, Gaelic was done at Calys by largely old people, and now the innovation in which there are people making very good livelihoods as a result of taking highlands and highlands culture throughout the planet, and that has brought young people to it. I think that there is a lot to be positive about, and I thank you all for being in the motion. The last of the open debate contributions is from Donald Cameron. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I'm delighted to follow John Finnie, who of course spent some of his childhood in my local village. As he's one of our younger MSPs, I hope he too may one day return home at some point. I'd like to thank Gael Ross for bringing this issue to debate this evening. I feel that it's been a very worthwhile discussion. In what I think has been a start to this year, which we've seen a lot of pessimism and negativity for all sorts of reasons, it's very pleasing to take part in such a positive debate. As the Highlands and Islands MSP, like others, I'm all too aware of the issue of depopulation and its major impact on rural and remote communities. I'm just taking a few statistics from the HIE report. The report says that in the 15 to 30 age group, 17 per cent of that population age group is a deficit compared to 21 per cent in Scotland as a whole. The report also says that the population in Highlands and Islands is predicted to be stable to 2041, but the 15 to 30 age group is expected, nevertheless, to decrease by 15 per cent, which is a significant number. In our Garland Bute, for example, there's long been a prediction that there'll be a decline in the working age population of more than a third. Likewise in the Western Isles, it's estimated that their working age population will decline by 27 per cent, so there is, I think, a real problem. It's not just a recent phenomenon. The history of the Highlands and Islands in the last 250 years is one that tells of more people leaving than arriving. However, with all that said, it's abundantly clear that there are many signs of improving attitudes to living in the Highlands and Islands and that more young people see a future for themselves in the region, and that is something that we all rightly welcome. I think that one speaker spoke, I think that it was Rhoda Grant who spoke about the Uists, because last year there was a report that highlighted that, unlike other island communities, the Uists appeared to be bucking the trend, and there's a birth rate rise of 67 per cent in the last decade, which is very marked. There was an article in the Herald last year which described that, young returners were helping to reverse the depopulation trend, and there was a new generation of young people who were keen to lay down their roots in these communities. Many of the reasons that were cited were things such as a feeling of greater safety for bringing up a family, the landscape, the untapped market for business enterprises, and it's clear, I think, from the HIE report that there are many more opportunities for young people and even just a few years ago, the report notes that the Inverness and Highland city deal is clearly going to have an impact. It mentions projects such as the Northern Innovation Hub and other rural growth deals, especially. Other speakers, including John Finnie, mentioned eSchool, which I visited in Stornoway last year, using technology to enable, in this instance, school children, but could easily be extended to other areas. There's been investment from STEM industries in the region, which I think also gives hope to more long-term economic regeneration. Long-standing businesses and organisations have committed to a long-term future in the region. We've had a BASF farmer in Kalanish in Lewis and MG Alibar in Stornoway will ensure that there remains a demand for skilled jobs in the area. One thing that struck me particularly from the HIE report is that 87 per cent of young people think that, although life in the Highlands requires making compromises, we accept that to be true, that they still believe that there are growing opportunities for young people. Lastly, I was struck by Gareth's comment about housing, because I think that that is absolutely right to recognise that this is an issue. Likewise, there are issues with ferry connections. All the issues that we know and talk about, such as the issues that represent the Highlands Islands, Paul Roy's broadband, et cetera. All that said, there is so much impetus for young people to stay and work in the region. I am delighted to take part in this debate, because if we do get it right now and ensure that we continue the economic regeneration of the Highlands and Islands, then it will only serve to encourage more young people to live and work and make their life there. I now invite Jamie Hepburn to respond to the debate for around seven minutes. I join with others in thanking Gail Ross for bringing forward her motion for debate this evening. I thank members for their contributions. As Donald Cameron sent out, it is quite welcome to be able to take part in a positive debate. It is fantastic to see progress in supporting more young people to live and work in the Highlands and Islands and to see their changed attitudes in terms of their desire to do so. Jamie Halcro Johnston said that he might be biased in celebrating the area that he represents. Of course, he should not be, because it is an outstanding part of the world. Again, that is demonstrated by the trends that we debate this evening. Of course, it is very welcome that Jenny Gilruth and others place this debate in its proper historic context. Like Jenny Gilruth, most of us in other parts of Scotland have some part of our historic family experience rooted in the depopulation of the Highlands and Islands. It is welcome to see that situation turning around. I will place a lot of my comments this evening in the context of developing young workforce, which Gail Ross's motion mentions. I believe in making a positive difference to the length and breadth of the country, but certainly in the Highlands and Islands. I want to talk about the role of Highlands and Islands Enterprise. Clearly, they have had a role in relation to the very welcome report that they have pulled together. We should thank them for that work, but they are also integral in creating the right conditions for the Highlands and Islands to thrive. They have been involved in supporting the right conditions for Scotland's employers and their progress in implementing the city-region deal, delivering projects such as the Northern Innovation Hub and the Science Skills Academy. We should commend the work of HIE and the role of UHI in creating opportunities for young people in the region and acting as a hub for research and innovation. The Scottish Government is committed to improving outcomes for those who live in the Highlands and Islands. We are investing £135 million over 10 years through the Inverness City region deal. The deal is at our investment of £135 million, further £53 million by the UK Government and £127 million from Highland Council and other regional partners, representing some £300 million of investment in the region over 10 years, delivering a step change in transport, innovation, digital connectivity, housing skills infrastructure and tourism, improving the lives of many living, working and visiting the Highlands and Islands and being able to further the trends that we are debating this evening. Of course, it could have been £82 million more if the UK Government matched the Scottish Government investment. I am very happy that the Parliament voted this evening to reiterate its position that the UK Government should match that level of investment with the exception of the Conservative and Labour party, but it will not linger on that too much more. As the minister was responsible for developing the young workforce, I want to say a little bit about our progress in supporting schools, colleges and employers to widen choice and improve outcomes for young people. Of course, the headline achievement of that initiative, that programme, has been achieving the reduction in youth unemployment by 40 per cent and 14 levels by 2021. We achieved that ambition four years early, but we want to build on that progress. In terms of the Highlands and Islands, it is critical that we continue our long-term plan to strengthen education skills partnerships between schools, colleges and training providers and employers based on the local circumstances. I am pleased to note the positive shift in perceptions of young people in the area. I think that that is undoubtedly down to a variety of factors, of course the fact that it is an outstanding part of the world to live in, but also the efforts that schools and others are taking to redesign and refocus their curriculum offer to better meet employer and young people's needs. We spoke about the issue of young people leaving the Highlands and Islands, of course, as Gail Ross, Rodi Grant and John Finnie and others made the point that there is absolutely nothing wrong with young people leaving any part of the country that they live in if that is what they aspire to do. That is an opportunity that they want to take up, but all too often when I visit areas, any part of the country, but particularly rural communities, it is often because of a misperception that there are limited opportunities available on the young person's own doorstep. We have to break down those misperceptions because that creates the idea that a young person has to leave the area that they have grown up in. That is not always the case. I have seen that happen on more than one occasion. I have been able to, through the developing the young workforce initiative, engage with young people who have actually taken up an opportunity that is on their doorstep. Quite often it will be with an employer that has been there for generations based on their own community. That is why it is so important to have employers involved in the delivery of developing the young workforce. Of course, we have 21 industry-led regional groups, six of which are in the Highlands and Islands, all working towards the same aim, but being locally responsive to their own local economic and skills needs. I have been very happy to visit across the country and to those groups in the Highlands and Islands. I look forward to being able to return again in the future. I know that there are particular challenges in supporting education and training opportunities in Scotland's rural communities in the Highlands and Islands. Of course, there have been improvements. The University of the Highlands and Islands has made a system change in the delivery of higher education opportunities in the Highlands and Islands e-school, which was mentioned by John Finnie and Donald Cameron. It is also an organisation. I have had the privilege of visiting as well. It is a fantastic model for the delivery of education. We know that there are barriers and additional costs to the delivery of employment and training. That is one reason why, for example, we have adapted our modern apprenticeship system by the creation of a rural supplement, something of importance to the Highlands and Islands. We have funded support training providers and employers' overcome barriers that are traditionally faced in rural areas in the delivery of modern apprenticeship opportunities. Those are just some of the ways through our DIY agenda, our skills system and our strategic economic investment. We are committed to supporting young people in the Highlands and Islands and Gail Ross and other members can be assured of that on-going commitment. That concludes the debate and this meeting is closed.