 Rwy'n credu i ddweud o cwestiynau ddiogel. Diolch yn fawr, Mary Evans. Rydw i'n cael ei gwrsiau, ond y bydd y rai oedd ddweud o'r gofynau sydd wedi'i gafod i'r gafod o'r bwysig iawn ddwyb yn ddweud o'r pwysgolodau a'r ddweud o'r bwysig iawn. Ie ddwyng mwynt y bydd ygafod o'r gafod o'r gafod o'r gafod o'r gafod o'r gafod o'r gafod argaen nhw ddig cakesen am gyllid yn ddig dependinguig o charles, i bob hwn i gweld ar gyfer iawn a yw cael ei edrych i gyflwyno cywir i gyflwyno. Rwy'n amrydd o maes syniad yn eich lleol i ddatblygu i gyflwyno ein bod chi'n amryd yn eu cyflwyno am gyllid, ac mae nhw'n iddyntio'r lleol a'u rhan oedd yr unig ac yn sylfaen i gael i'r lleol i gyflwyno i gael i gael i gael i gael i sefydliadol ar gyfer iawn. Rwy'n employedag i gyflwyno i ddigcasio ar gyflwyno i wrth hyn mae'n gweithio i nhw'r ganfer o gweithio edrydolach, wir ydweithio'r gwaith ystod gan y olygu yn dŷmwysigon a fyddwch o'r lleiwyr llygfa iawn yn ei ddeithaswr. Mae Rheu Pan senseiwyr ynhowodd yn y dryf yn gweithio ei fod yn gwahanol o haul장ol yn gweithio a'u groesfynig yn dŷmwysigon yn ei ddeithaswr, ac yn gweithio'r gwaith o'r geithweithio'r geithwyr yn ni'n gweld yn cael y cyfnod agel Hyunu yn ôl i'r monitor a trac pupil progress apropretly? I have listened very carefully to the arguments and points around the presence of unit assessments, which were, of course, applied to the new qualifications by agreement across the education system. The changes that I have announced to national 5 and higher, which I will be putting to the curriculum for excellence management board tomorrow, are part of a package of measures designed to address unnecessary bureaucracy and, crucially, to liberate teachers to concentrate on teaching and to change the balance between assessment and learning within the education system, so that more time is allocated to be able to concentrate on the learning experience. The whole issue of quality assessment is intrinsic to the undertaking and exercising of teacher judgment in our education system, which is the crucial part of curriculum for excellence, and it is important that that principle is made central to the delivery of education within Scotland's schools. Iain Gray The cabinet secretary's reform of school governance suggests a new funding formula for schools. What guarantee can he give us that no school will see a real-terms reduction in their budget as a result? The purpose of the funding formula is to ensure that we see an effective deployment of resources where resources are required to support attainment within our schools. I would have thought that that is a principle that the Labour Party would have supported, given what it has said to Parliament before about the importance of ensuring that there is adequate and effective support to ensure that we close the attainment gap within Scotland's education. The Government, of course, has put proposals to Parliament, which are currently under consideration by Parliament, for the increase of resources to be available to education through the rebanding of the council tax. I hope that the Labour Party is able to support us in that measure to ensure that we can ensure that new resources are able to be allocated to Scottish education, which is what I thought the Labour Party believed in. Tama Scott This morning at the Parliament's education committee, the Royal Society of Edinburgh suggested that separating the inspectorate from the policy advice that is given by Education Scotland would be an important reform to further education in Scotland. Does the cabinet secretary agree? John Swinney Mr Scott has raised that issue before. I am interested in what the Royal Society of Edinburgh has said at the committee this morning. The Government's review, as Mr Scott will know, sets out the issues that have to be considered about the range of national bodies that have an involvement in the improvement of education. In my view, the functions of Education Scotland—whether that is its role as the inspectorate or the role in relation to educational development—are both focused on the improvement of the quality of Scottish education. I will, of course, consider any representations that are made to me through the consultation exercise, whether from the Royal Society of Edinburgh or from Mr Scott, on that particular question. Question 2, Gil Paterson. Gil Paterson Many thanks, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress with the Attainment Scotland fund. Cabinet Secretary More than 300 primary schools across 21 local authority areas were supported in 2015-16 to the Scottish Attainment fund. £11.7 million was allocated to seven challenge authorities with the greatest concentration of primary-aged children living in the 20 per cent most deprived areas in Scotland. A further £2.5 million was allocated to 57 schools across 14 local authorities through the Attainment Scotland fund schools programme. Following the election, we expanded the Scottish Attainment fund to £750 million over the next five years. That has allowed us to double the funding for our existing challenge authorities and schools programme to £50 million per year, extending the reach of the challenge to include secondary schools and two additional challenge authorities. From financial year 2017-18, the additional £100 million per year that will be raised each year from our council tax reforms will be allocated directly to schools with headteachers given the freedom to invest the extra resources in the ways that they consider will have the biggest impact on raising attainment in their schools. Gil Paterson I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. Can the cabinet secretary outline whether every school in Scotland will benefit from the attainment fund within the lifetime of this Parliament thereby allowing every child to directly benefit from this additional educational spend? The Scottish Attainment challenge is about achieving equity in educational outcomes with a particular focus on closing the poverty-related attainment gap. The supporting attainment Scotland fund is targeted at the significant number of children in Scotland whose educational outcomes are adversely affected by poverty. Therefore, funding has been directed at those schools and authorities with the highest levels of deprivation. In 2017-18, that will be extended to all schools who have children who are eligible for free school meals, extending the reach much more widely across Scotland. Liz Smith I ask the cabinet secretary for some clarification on that last point about the free school meals. In primaries 1 to 3, all children are liable for free school meals. Does he intend therefore to use the existing measure, or will there be some new adjustment to that? I would make two points in response to Liz Smith. Clearly, there is a well-established methodology for the calculation of entitlement to free school meals, and that is one measure that the Government could use in this respect. That is what the Government set out in our manifesto that we would do. The second point that I would make is that I have made it clear to interested parties that if there is viewed to be a more effective measurement that would target resources to address deprivation across Scotland, I am prepared to consider that measure. In the absence of any alternative, I think that the eligibility for free school meals is the most robust and reliable mechanism that we have available to us to determine that eligibility. Ivan McKee To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on making it mandatory to train teachers about inclusive education. Presiding Officer, the standard for full registration managed by the General Teaching Council for Scotland requires all teachers to show in their day-to-day practice a commitment to social justice, inclusion and caring for and protecting children. The Scottish Government will work with the General Teaching Council for Scotland to provide more support to teachers on equality issues by August 2017. In addition, we will require all new guidance and promoted teachers, and eventually all teachers, to undertake training so that they are confident in tackling prejudice-based bullying in schools. We will also ensure that schools address the important issues that LGBTI young people face and that teachers have the skills, knowledge and confidence to embed inclusive approaches in their schools. Ivan McKee I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. The cabinet secretary will be aware that the Scottish Government strategy in this area is to issue LGBT inclusive guidance to schools and local authorities, but there is currently no requirement for schools to deliver on this. There is clear evidence from research conducted by the TIE campaign that this approach leads to a situation whereby some schools are LGBT inclusive and others are not. Can the Scottish Government advise as to whether there are plans to rectify this in order to ensure that all schools are delivering an LGBT inclusive education? Ivan McKee First of all, I agree wholeheartedly with the aspiration that Mr McKee set out in the latter part of his question that it is vital that in every school in the country there is an ability and a capability to ensure that LGBTI issues are dealt with properly and effectively and that any young people who are in any way prejudiced in this respect are supported and that unacceptable practice is tackled. We address this mainly through the guidance that is available to schools. The principal area of this guidance is the relationship, sexual health and parenthood education materials that are made available to schools. The Government is currently reviewing our national approach to anti-bullying for Scotland's children and young people. We want to make sure that that guidance is relevant and current for all schools within Scotland. There is a wide dialogue being undertaken with LGBTI groups to ensure that the work that is undertaken to review the guidance is effective and that it creates the approach that I wholeheartedly agree with Mr McKee has got to be the case in any school in our country. Research by the Thai campaign published earlier this month suggested that 90 per cent of LGBT pupils had experienced homophobia and that 42 per cent had attempted to commit suicide. Following on from the questions by Ivan McKee, when mandatory training and guidance can be issued to schools on identifying radicalisation in the classroom, why can't such a similar mechanism for identifying homophobia and bullying in the classroom also be rolled out? The approach in this respect, as I have said to Mr McKee, is to ensure that schools are properly and fully equipped with the trained personnel and the guidance to ensure that those issues can be handled properly. It is intolerable that young people should face bullying of any description in our schools and it is particularly intolerable that young people should experience any homophobic bullying. The guidance that the Government issues and the approach that we take in relation to teacher training is designed to ensure that that is the approach that is taken in all schools in the country. I welcome the commitment to roll out training by August 17, but that is quite a long time away and we know that only 55 per cent of teachers are aware of the current guidance that is in place. Today, the time for inclusive education campaign has a very simple ask. They are looking for our help, they are asking MSPs to sign the campaign pledge. It takes a couple of seconds to do so on Twitter and I am really pleased that across the chamber a number of MSPs have already done so. Can I ask the Scottish Government if members of the education front bench will be doing the same today? I think that it would send a very important signal to the TIE campaign and to young people in the classroom. I have put on the record my position in relation to LGBTI issues and any existence of bullying. I will look at the material that Monica Lennon has drawn to my attention today, but let me re-emphasise from the education front bench that the Government's absolute determination to ensure that we do everything that we can to support young people who are in any way affected by prejudice-based bullying and to ensure that we have the proper support in place in our schools to enable that to be the case. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I thank the cabinet secretary for his responses. When he is looking at the guidelines and schemes going forward, would he also look at bullying for disabled people within our schools? There seems to be an under-reporting of this particular bullying for the disabled community who have been mainstreamed. I think that there is a concern among many disabled groups that it is simply going un-reported and that teachers are not able, at the moment, to give appropriate education for both obvious disability and also hidden disability. I think that the issues that I have covered already in my answer are as relevant than dealing with Mr Balfour's important question, as they have been in relation to the issues for the LGBTI community. I said in my first answer that the Government is intolerant of any bullying and we must make sure that schools are equipped to support young people who are in any way affected by whatever the circumstances or the excuse for the bullying that is put forward. I have seen myself in different schools in the country, a tremendous empathy and support for young people with disabilities. I do not doubt the existence of concerns that Mr Balfour has raised in Parliament today. I have also seen myself tremendous practice within our schools to support young people with disabilities and to ensure that they are effectively assisted in every way that we can do. However, I will certainly make sure that the guidance that is brought forward is comprehensive, effective and meets the needs of young people who are the victims of bullying, regardless of the excuse that is levelled for that bullying. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to help and support students from Scotland who want to study elsewhere in the UK EU. In 2014-15, we launched a pilot project to support Scottish domiciled undergraduates to attend a number of universities in other EU countries. Students taking part do not pay tuition fees are an entitled to apply for the same living cost support as those studying in Scotland. We also provide support for a small number of postgraduate students to study at selected European higher education institutions. The Scottish Government also continues to support the Erasmus Plus programme and the British Council's international association for the exchange of students for technical experience programmes. Over the last four years, with much funding from universities, colleges and students associations, the Scottish Government has invested over £500,000 through its outward mobility fund to support 50 projects and over 600 student places of varying duration and type in Europe, Canada, China, USA and India. The Scottish Government's portability pilot is due to run until the end of academic year 2016-17. Constituents who have contacted the student awards agency Scotland have been informed that, because of possible constraints as a result of the EU referendum result, we cannot at present state our funding position for any new students starting undergraduate degrees from 2017-18. Given that Scottish Domicile students studying at eligible European universities can apply for the same bursary and loan support as students attending university in Scotland, what steps will the Government take to ensure that this very valuable link to Europe for future generations of young Scots will remain open? As I said in my initial answer to Mr McDonald, this is a pilot project and it is due to end with the 2016-17 intake of students and we will then evaluate it. I should be clear that all students currently taking part and those beginning an eligible course this year will be supported to complete their whole studies. Before confirming the continuation of the pilot, it is important, however, that we do assess the overall impact of the programme and its success. As part of that, we will obviously look at the potential impact on Brexit of student mobility in Europe, but the member should be reassured that we will continue to want Scottish students to play their full part in the European Union to study and to seek benefit from that wherever that particular programme will be. He can at least be assured that this Government will continue to want Scottish students to play a full part in the European Union. Encourage the minister to address the issue of college students who will be needed more in apprentice skills, because if Brexit happens in the way in which we believe it may happen, then the number of apprentices we need, particularly in the construction industry, is going to become more so. We should undertake to look into that with the respective colleges in order to ensure that the growth of apprentices continues to happen in order to meet those skills needs that are very clear in the industry across Scotland now. Tavish Scott raises a very important point about the implications for Brexit and the requirements for the economies. The construction sector is one of those parts. Apprenticeships have played a very important part in the Scottish Government's commitment to its offerings for young people, and we, of course, have made a commitment to increase the number of apprenticeships. Construction will play a very, very important part. I take the points that Tavish Scott has made today on board. To ask the Scottish Government what action it takes to ensure that there are equality of admissions to university places for people who meet the entrance requirements. As autonomous institutions universities are ultimately responsible for their own admissions procedures and decisions. That said, we invest more than £51 million every year to support around 7,000 places targeted on disadvantaged learners and those progressing from college. We have also welcomed the final report of the commission on widening access, which commented extensively on how admissions could be made fairer. We will continue to work closely with the university sector on how best to take forward the implementation of the commission's recommendations. Willie Coffey. For that answer, I understand that there is little or no centralized data showing where the successful and in particular the unsuccessful applicants come from who actually meet the entrance requirements for courses such as medicine, law and dentistry. Is that something that the Government will seek to address as it takes forward the attainment agenda to ensure that equality of access is achieved? Although data on entrance to university by social economic background is available, the widening access commission recognised the need for enhanced data and analysis on access is required. My officials are therefore working with the Scottish Funding Council to deliver the commission's recommendations for better monitoring of fair access at key stages of the learner journey, including applications, offers and acceptances to universities. We are working closely with the sector and the Scottish Funding Council to progress the commission's recommendations on admissions, and I hope that that will address Willie Coffey's concerns on that point. The final report of the commission for widening access was widely welcomed across this chamber. With that in mind, could the minister confirm what steps have been taken to appoint a commissioner for fair access and when we might expect a commissioner to be imposed? That was a very important part of the commission's recommendations, and the Government is keen to make an appointment on that. It has to be the right appointment. We want somebody who can challenge not just the sector but the Government, so we are looking for someone who will independently scrutinise both ourselves and what is happening within the wider university sector. We hope to make an appointment on that soon, but it is important that we can speak to a number of people and continue to do so until we are very sure that we have the right person to not only hold this Government to account, but the rest of the sector as well. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the implications of Brexit for the college sector. The Scottish Government is determined to protect our place in Europe and will explore all options to do so. The UK vote to leave the EU presents a period of uncertainty for our education sector, including our colleges. The Scottish funding council and other partner bodies, such as Skills Development Scotland, is working to establish the potential impact on the sector in terms of EU funding, EU students and EU staff. We will also expect agencies to work with the college sector to explore opportunities to continue its relationship with Europe and to seek ways to mitigate the potential impacts at this time of great change. Graham Dey. I thank the minister for that answer. The minister will be aware from a recent visit there of the success story that is Dundee and Angus college. However, the progress-made post-regionalisation now faces being undermined by Brexit, with the college confronted by the loss of £2 million annually in ESF and ERDF funding as a consequence of the UK leaving the EU. Can I ask her if there are any specific steps that the Scottish Government can take to try to protect the college sector from the ravages of Brexit? As the member said, I did very much enjoy my visit to the college during the summer recess and saw firsthand what is going on within the college, both at an employability and had a chance to speak to EU students while I was there. Of course, our ability to fully assess the different options will be constrained with regard to Brexit until we start to gain some clarity about what the UK Government is actually seeking to achieve themselves. As I have mentioned to the member of the Scottish Funding Council, we will work with both colleges and universities to success the impact. I will continue to discuss those issues with colleges and universities to ensure that I am fully appraised of the referendum result and how we can ensure that Scotland's colleges and universities remain attractive and enhance their competitiveness in the global education market. To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the provision of physical education and extracurricular activity in schools is encouraging children to lead active and healthy lifestyles. Quality physical education provides young people and children with the fundamental competencies and skills necessary for lifelong participation in sport and physical activity. 98 per cent of primary and secondary pupils across Scotland are now providing at least two hours or two periods of PE a week. That is a key part of our sport strategy for children and young people, giving children and young people a sporting chance in their future life. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. The reality is that there is a decreasing number of opportunities for all youngsters to participate in that school PE has a very limited time allocated to it and, warningly, is being squeezed out of the curriculum more and more. Time allocated to PE is advisory rather than compulsory and in many cases the school gates are shut at 4pm and therefore access to facilities is cut off. Increasingly, clubs now have waiting lists and we are turning away many who are eager to take part. Will the Government look at opening up school facilities after school hours across the country to give children an accessible opportunity to get active? First, I say to Mr Whittle that I am just a little bit perplexed by the doom-laden character of his question. I said in my initial answer that 98 per cent of primary and secondary schools across Scotland are providing at least two hours or two periods of PE a week. That is a significant improvement on what used to be the position in the country. The second point that I would make is that Mr Whittle comes here and complains about the difficulties of school opening hours. Maybe his party has been a great advocate of PFI. PFI arrangements for schools have been one of the significant factors that restricts the availability and opening of schools by nature of the restrictions of the contracts. Thirdly, I witness across the country a tremendous amount of voluntary energy and enthusiasm given to encourage our young people to be active and healthy. Nobody obliges the primary school that my son goes to to take part in the daily mile, but they do, because of the enthusiasm and the energy of teaching staff. I know that Mr Whittle has a lot of interest and enthusiasm for encouraging children to lead active and healthy lifestyles, and I share his aspiration, but I encourage him to be slightly more positive and express in the point of view. Bob Doris. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. Cabinet Secretary, in relation to the daily mile that my question refers to, can you give an update on the progress in rolling out the daily mile, not just in primary schools and other schools but also in pre-school provision and whether could benefit in terms of addressing the attainment gap also by getting young people more physically active? The Government is committed to Scotland becoming the first daily mile nation since the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Life, Learning and Health and Well being roped to all-head teachers in Scotland in November 2015 to inform them of this initiative. At least 800 primary schools in Scotland—41 per cent of the total number—are now participating in the daily mile programme, adapting the basic idea to meet their own circumstances. I would highlight that point to Mr Doris and to other members, including to Mr Whittle, that in the space of periods since November 2015, 41 per cent of primary schools in Scotland have adopted the daily mile or adapted it to their programme, which I think is a welcome indication of progress on physical activity in our schools. To ask the Scottish Government what the mechanism will be for distributing moneys from the attainment Scotland fund to schools. During the first two years of the Scottish attainment challenge, we used the Scottish index of multiple deprivation, which is a long-established set of indicators that shows levels of deprivation in communities across Scotland to identify the authorities in schools with the greatest concentration of school-age children living in the 20 per cent most deprived areas in Scotland. That mechanism has been used to allocate funding through our existing challenge authorities and schools programme to more than 300 primary schools and 100 secondary schools across 21 local authorities. We secured a mandate at the recent election to raise an additional £100 million per year through our council tax reforms, specifically for raising educational attainment. Our manifesto proposes that this additional funding should be allocated directly to schools based on eligibility for free school meals from 2017-18. We are engaging with local government representatives in COSLA, the Association of Directors of Education and the Society of Local Authorities Chief Executives, on the key principles underpinning this additional £100 million, and those discussions will inform the approach to determining eligibility and distribution of the funds. Ross Thomson, I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. Given that the money will be removed from council grants to spend nationally elsewhere, what percentage of this funding will be spent in the north-east of Scotland and can the cabinet secretary guarantee that disadvantaged pupils in the region will not lose out? I say two things to Mr Thomson. The first is that all council tax income that is raised in all local authority areas will be retained in those local authority areas. The second point that I would like to say to Mr Thomson is that the mechanism that I set out in my answer, which is the utilisation of the eligibility for free school meals, is designed to ensure—that is a development from our existing position of using the Scottish index of multiple deprivation—that the free school meals entitlement to eligibility is designed to ensure that we reach every young person who is living in poverty to ensure that they receive the support to which they are entitled, regardless of the part of the country in which they live. I thank the cabinet secretary for that last answer. Can he provide reassurance to local authorities across Scotland that what they raise in council tax will stay in their local authority area? I am happy to give that confirmation that all council tax revenue that is raised in all local authority areas will be retained in those local authority areas. That is the principle of local authority taxation, and that is what will continue after the reforms that we have undertaken. Cabinet Secretary is saying exactly the same thing as Derek Mackay said last week. Yes, it is consistent, but it is slightly misleading. It is accurate to say that councils will retain all the council tax that they raise, but the money will be clawed back through a cut in grants. The question for Mr Swinney is whether the cut in grants in particular areas will be more than is raised in council tax. I think that Mr Simpson rather gets the wrong end of the stick here. The £100 million is going to be new revenue that is raised. It is going to be raised and will be part of the council tax that is raised in every local authority area. As is normal practice in all aspects of local government finance, which has been the case throughout time—certainly for all the time I have ever had to do with local authority finance—the level of revenue support grant for individual local authorities is a product of how much is raised in council tax and non-domestic rates in local authority areas into the bargain. Mr Simpson should be reassured that all the money raised in council tax in every local authority area will be retained in that local authority area. I hope that that allows him to sleep a bit easier in his bed tonight, as a consequence of that absolute clarity. The point is that COSLA is absolutely clear that what we are seeing is local finances being pulled back, with £100 million taken back, and then redistributed across Scotland. It is a playway words, but the truth is that you are taking council tax monies off local authorities because you are taking £100 million off their grant, and you are telling them that they can make up that up by raising council tax. I think that we have to have a degree of pulling together and working together in terms of transparency around this. There are two very distinct parts of the Government's commitments on local authority taxation. The first is in relation to the rebanding of the council tax and the extension of the ban, of an order of which is currently being considered by Parliament. There is also the Government's manifesto commitment to enable local authorities to raise the council tax by 3 per cent, entirely separate from the process of the rebanding exercise. Mr Mackay and I were just talking about the issue with COSLA at one of our regular meetings this morning in relation to those questions. There are two separate processes under way here, and Mr Rowley has been a leader of a local authority in the past. He knows the way that local authority France is working. Revenue support grant is a product of the amount of revenue that is raised by local authorities in council tax and non-domestic rates, and revenue support grant is influenced by the factors that are generated by the amount of revenue that is raised by those to sources of local authority income. What contribution improving support at school for young children with autism will make towards meeting its ambition to close the educational attainment gap? Our ambition is to deliver equity and excellence for all children and young people, supporting them to reach their full potential, including those that are affected by autism. The additional support for learning act provides the legal framework for the identification of provision for and review of personalised support for children and young people who face barriers to learning, including those arising from autism. In order to help schools to meet the needs of those pupils, the Scottish Government has supported the development of the autism toolbox published in 2014. The toolbox provides guidance on the planning and support of pupils and training of staff, as well as sharing examples of best practice. The toolbox also provides a forum for continually updating and disseminating good practice. Thank you for that answer, cabinet secretary. In recent months, I have had a number of families in my constituency raised concerns over the support that is available for children, particularly as the transition from nursery school into primary one, where a presumption of mainstreaming applies, but not always backed up with the support that is required. I am concerned that a lack of support may impact on the educational attainment of some of their most vulnerable children. I suspect that that is not isolated to Glasgow. As part of addressing the attainment gap, will the cabinet secretary review how local authorities provide such support for vulnerable children? I certainly believe that the framework that we have in place, and certainly the legislative framework that is in place from the additional support for learning act, should provide and address exactly the point that has been made by Mr Doris, but I am very happy to look at particular examples and experience that he has had to try to ensure that that is the case. Fundamentally, we have an obligation as a Government and as a public sector to work to get it right for every child in Scotland. That means about meeting the needs of young people, wherever there are circumstances, and young people with autism will have particular support requirements. All public authorities in the responsibilities that they exercise should take due account of that within the legislative framework of the additional support for learning act. However, if Mr Doris would care to write to him about any further detail about that, I would be happy to explore that on his behalf. To ask the Scottish Government when it will provide an update on the progress of its education governance review. I launched the governance review on 13 September, and it will run until 6 January 2017. The governance review is an opportunity to engage in a positive debate. We want to hear from children, young people, parents, teachers, practitioners and the wider community. We want to hear from those with a formal role in our education system and those who share a stake in its success. I will, of course, update Parliament following the conclusion of the review to set out the Government's actions in relation to the consultation exercise. The cabinet secretary will be well aware that the statutory responsibility in these matters lies with education authorities and a number of those authorities in the north and northeast of Scotland are already working together to address joint concerns in particular around the recruitment and retention of teachers. Will the Government, in looking at those matters, consider shifting the focus of its workforce planning from simply focusing on the national picture to focusing on the individual needs of individual education authorities in meeting their objectives in the recruitment and retention of teaching staff? I think that Mr MacDonald raises a very significant point. The experience of what has emerged as the Northern Alliance of authorities in the area of the country when part of the area that Mr MacDonald represents and into Highland and the island communities is a welcome example of local authorities collaborating together to find solutions to common problems. Teacher recruitment is one of those issues, but there are others. I might also add ways of enhancing educational provision as a consequence of collaboration between local authorities. That type of working is very much what is in my mind in relation to the issues that I raised in the consultation exercise around the regional education boards and the collaborations that we have talked about in that respect. That, of course, enables solutions to be developed, which might meet, for example, the teacher recruitment challenges that we face in the north of Scotland. I think that Mr MacDonald raises a very thoughtful point in relation to the consultation exercise, which I look further to hearing more from him about and from the other authorities that he represents. To ask the Scottish Government what recent assessment it has made of the condition of college buildings. It is the responsibility of the Scottish Funding Council to advise ministers on the condition of college buildings. The SFFC undertook an assessment of college estates in 2014 and refreshed that exercise earlier this year. Can I thank the minister for that answer? Audit Scotland reported that Scotland's colleges face major funding challenges in financing capital improvements to their estate. The Scottish Funding Council study that the minister referred to looked at a third of the college sector and estimated that it would cost £256 million—that is more than £1.25 billion—to bring those properties alone up to a decent standard. And yet, over the last four years, the Scottish Government has reduced its capital funding to colleges by over 70 per cent, a drop from £90 million to £26.6 million. Does the minister agree that the staff and students of Scotland's colleges need decent buildings to teach and learn, so will she reverse those capital cuts? The capital funding to the Scottish Government as a whole has fallen quite dramatically given the Westminster austerity measures. I think that there is a dose of realism that needs to be brought to the chamber. Every single time an Opposition member continues to make capital and revenue claims against his Government, they at least have to bring a bit of reality to that as well. We have invested £550 million in the college of states between 2007 and 2015, and we continue to support the further education sector by supporting investment for over £300 million worth in the NPD pipeline. He will have also noticed that, in the programme for government announcement, colleges were awarded an additional £10 million of accelerated capital funding to help to improve existing states, and I would expect a member to welcome that progress. I thank minister members. That takes us to any topical questions. We move on to the next item of business.