 The next item of business this afternoon is consideration of business motion 10208 in the name of Joffice Patrick on behalf of the bureau setting out a timetable for the Domestic Abuse Scotland Bill at stage 3. I would ask any member who wishes to speak against this motion to press their request to speak button now and I call on Joffice Patrick to move motion 10208. Thank you very much. No one has asked to speak against the motion. The question is that motion 10208 be agreed. Are we all agreed? We are agreed. The next item of business is a statement by Shirley-Anne Somerville on supporting people to study in Scotland. The minister will take questions at the end. If anybody wishes to ask a question, I would encourage them to press their request to speak button now and I call on Shirley-Anne Somerville. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Scotland is an outward looking nation and this Government remains absolutely committed to our country continuing to be an open, welcoming and diverse nation. A key driver of that is the ethos and culture of our colleges and universities, an ethos which supports the cross-cultural exchange of ideas and opinions, knowledge and research, new social activities and greater understanding. At the same time, the world class reputation of our higher education sector in particular ensures that we remain a country where people want to come and work in our universities and also to study here. A diverse student population made up from people from Scotland, from the other countries in the UK, from across the EU and from other parts of the world helped to make that ethos a reality. The recognised benefits of EU and international students include an enriched learning experience and an international outlook amongst home students and graduates and the development of an international network of alumni. At university, 22 per cent of enrolments are from EU and non-EU international students. They are and will remain an integral and valued part of our universities and indeed are colleges too. Presiding Officer, there can be no doubt of the threat posed by even the talk of a Brexit which results in the loss of freedom of movement. The latest UCAS figures show a 10 per cent reduction in acceptances from EU students to Scottish universities. The continued lack of clarity from the UK Government, particularly on freedom of movement and the immigration status of students, is frankly unacceptable. It ignores that every potential student and indeed those currently staying here in Scotland is an individual with costs, commitment, family lives and indeed alternatives available to them. Since the EU referendum, we have been clear that we want prospective students from the EU to continue to see Scotland as a place that they wish to study, a place that they wish to live and a place that they can call home. Previously, we have confirmed that EU students, starting their studies in the 2017-18 academic year and in the 2018-19 academic year, will have the costs of their tuition fees met by the Scottish Government for the duration of their studies. Today, I can announce that we will now extend that commitment to the 2019-20 cohort. That means that all eligible non-UK EU citizens who come to Scotland to study for an undergraduate higher education qualification in 2019-20 will benefit from free tuition. That will provide confidence for prospective EU students considering coming to study in Scotland as well as the clarity that our institutions require in order to plan for that academic year. We are the first Government in the UK to make that commitment, and we do so to send a strong message to current and prospective students that you are welcome here. We will also continue to press the UK Government to clarify its position on Erasmus Plus after the UK's withdrawal from the EU. Since 2014, more than 15,000 people have been involved in nearly 500 Erasmus Plus projects across Scotland. The programme is evolving to include vocational education and training, adult education, schools education and youth work. We want to continue to participate in Erasmus Plus and success our programmes, ensuring that people from Scotland continue to have the valuable opportunity to experience living, studying and volunteering overseas and welcoming others from across the EU to come here to Scotland. It is also important for us to continue to welcome people from other countries to study in Scotland, too. That Government supports our higher education sector's efforts to promote Scotland as a destination to study to the wider world. Scotland's salt air scholarships were first introduced in 2009, open to international students from selected countries outside the EU. They have increased in popularity and reputation over the years, and indeed competition for the scholarship has grown with almost 4,000 applications last year. From surveying those students, we know that salt air scholarships have confirmed people's views of Scotland. We are all welcome and open and an attractive place to visit and study. However, discussions with previous participants and institutions have now led to another evolution of the programme, with a stronger focus on developing a strong network of scholars and alumni to promote Scotland and its education system overseas. That is all that is necessary in light of the continued uncertainty generated by the UK Government to both EU and international students. For 2018, 2019 and beyond, 50 salt air scholars will be selected from academically gifted applicants from the Scottish Government's priority countries of Canada, China, India, Pakistan and the United States. They will study in areas such as science and technology, medicine and healthcare, the creative industries and renewable energy, adding value to priority issues, including STEM, digital skills, public services and the low-carbon economy. We will also ensure that the new salt air scholars do engage with our global Scots programme. They will meet a range of industry leaders while studying here and will be in a position to share that experience with others wherever their future may take them. In return, we will double the value of the current scholarship from £4,000 to £8,000, an offer made possible by the continuing partnership funding and support from universities. We will also continue to support a range of schemes that offer short-term opportunities for international students to come to our colleges and universities and, indeed, for Scottish students to spend time overseas. Those include funding Scotland's participation in the generation UK-China exchange programme, the UK India Education and Research Initiative, the UK-US Fulbright commission and the international association for the exchange of students for technical experience. Those programmes help to draw talented people from around the world to live and study in Scotland. It is vital for the health of our economy and society that we are able to retain some of those talented people in Scotland and to allow them to work here. The UK's current post-study work offer is not adequate for Scotland and the Home Office's tier 4 pilot falls far short of the kind of post-study work route that Scotland needs. We will continue to press the UK Government to respect the cross-party consensus that exists in this Parliament and reinstate the post-study work visa at the earliest opportunity. It is also important for us to offer assistance to those international students who are in need of our support the most. Already this Government supports students who have settled here from Iraq, having helped the armed forces as locally employed staff interpreters. Home Office rules provide them with indefinite leave to remain and our regulations on financial support ensure that they can afford to study for qualifications, which might help them to succeed in their new lives here. It is therefore inexplicable that the same opportunity to remain here indefinitely was denied to Afghan interpreters who undertook similar work. It is the fact that Afghan nationals who were previously locally employed staff are here only on a five-year leave rather than indefinitely leave to remain, which has prevented them from being eligible for support to go to university without further adjustment to our schemes and arrangements for financial support. That is not fair and equitable in today's prize, and I am putting that right. Action will be taken to open up student support to Afghan interpreters so that eligible Afghan students can apply for tuition and living cost support so that they can undertake courses of further and higher education at our colleges and universities. That recognises the contribution that they have made in their service to the UK and to armed forces deployed to Afghanistan from communities all around Scotland. It also opens up opportunities for them to continue their education and to provide them with the qualifications and skills that they need to move on in life. The risk of leaving the EU is increasingly significant and becoming more real. We should not forget that people in Scotland voted decisively to remain in the EU. All the available information and analysis shows that doing so remains the best option for Scotland and, indeed, the UK as a whole, but we must prepare for an outcome that none of us wants. In doing so, we must not allow our distinct voice, our international reputation, our excellence in education to diminish. Whatever the outcome of the Brexit negotiations, we must send a clear signal only to people who are already studying here, but also potential students from the EU and further afield. We must continue to provide opportunities for our own students so that they might benefit from the experience of studying and living abroad. By our words and by our actions, we can show the world that we remain an open nation that values diversity and that we are a welcoming country. Indeed, as the University of Scotland campaign summed up so succinctly, Scotland welcomes the world. We will now take questions on the minister's statement. We will be around 20 minutes for Liz Smith. I thank the minister for the prior sight of the statement. I also welcome the early confirmation of the financial status of EU students at Scottish universities for academic year 2019-20. The confirmation that I know will be welcomed by the universities as they plan ahead. I also associate myself with the remarks that the minister made in her statement that it is important to send out a strong message to current and prospective students that Scotland is a good place to be. I think that all MSPs are aware of the outstanding contribution that EU students and staff make to our universities, often at the cutting edge of research and development and which are so important to the future of the economy. Firstly, what discussions is the Scottish Government having with University Scotland and with Derek Mackay's office about the long-term sustainability of higher education funding in Scotland, given the warnings that were issued to the Scottish Government by Audit Scotland in its most recent report? What actions is it taking to expand the bursary support for poorer students, which despite some modest improvements in the past two years still lags behind other parts of the UK? I welcome Liz Smith's remarks and I associate myself with the addition that she put in about EU staff and indeed our international staff. The academics that we have here from across the world are one of the reasons why our universities are world-renowned and we should be equally proud of every single one of them. As Liz Smith will be well aware, the budget for the higher education sector, the overall investment in that increase by 1.9 per cent in real terms next year, so despite the difficult financial settlement that the Scottish Government had to deal with, we have provided a real terms increase for that sector on-going. Indeed, that settlement has been welcomed by University Scotland when Mr Mackay produced the draft budget. We will take very seriously the requirements of the sector and I believe that we are delivering that by ensuring that we are providing over £1 billion a year in public funding to higher education. She also talks about the importance of supporting those poorer students who require support. I would point out to her that we have had the independent review of student support, which recently provided a number of recommendations to the Government, which I will report on on due course. Some of them were very radical, particularly when it involved parts of the higher and particularly further education sector that deal with social security and the impact of any change that we would make on a student's ability to receive social security benefits. That is why some of the aspects that they are asking us to look at will require us to work with the UK Government to see what the implications of that will be. I will report back to Parliament on due course, but she can be assured that I have asked my officials to ensure that everything that we are doing around that is based on ensuring that students who perhaps find it most difficult because of their financial situation to go to university are at the forefront of our thoughts on that, and we will base our deliberations on them. Iain Gray Thank you, Presiding Officer, and thanks to Minister for Early Sight of her statement. All the measures contained in the statement are welcome, as far as we are concerned. Indeed, as Liz Smith said, perhaps the very early indication of support for EU students in academic year 2019-20 is in good time for application, because on one previous occasion that did not of course happen and it did cause difficulty for both universities and potential students. It does mean that in this case EU citizens thinking of applying to study in Scotland in that academic year will know what support will be available to them, and that is important. However, it is the case, as was rather implied by the minister's previous answer, that Scottish domicile people thinking of applying to study in university or in college beginning next year do not know what support for living will be available for them, because the Scottish Government has not yet responded to that review of support for students. That cannot be right, and will the minister accept that simply to say that she will respond in due course is not really good enough, and will she tell us when she intends to respond and tell us what support will be available in 2019-20? With the great respect to Iain Gray, they do know, because it is on the students advisory website. They know exactly what they will be receiving for their student support, because the system is in place just now. That is not a mystery to anyone who is looking at applying, and indeed officials from Sassar are going around the country, going into schools and talking exactly about what is available to them. What we are ensuring that we will do is look at the longer term challenges. Iain Gray thinks that I should take the review of student support, and I should immediately accept it. Once we have discussions with the DWP, we find out that when I provide more money through an FE budget, it will then use its social security benefits. I think that Iain Gray would rightly think that that was a bit misinformed. I will take my time to ensure that my officials have due time to discuss with the DWP that I can discuss with ministers down south to ensure that any changes that we make will then be a disincentive to study. While Iain Gray might want us to rush ahead, we will continue to work with stakeholders, and we will continue to work with the NUS to ensure that we look very seriously at every single piece of evidence that they have produced, and that they will rise to the challenge that the review gave us. James Dornan, to be followed by Oliver Mundell. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I thank the minister for that very positive statement, and I am sure that many people have all been glad to hear the words that she said. Can the minister confirm to me that she will also press the UK Government to follow her example on EU tuition fees, given that the risks associated with Brexit around these students and clarity for our institutions are entirely of the Tory's own making? James Dornan raises a very important point about the signals that this Government has given in the announcements that we are making today, but also the importance of the signals that we need to come from the UK Government. As I said during my statement, we are the first Government within the UK to discuss what is happening with the 1920 students. The deadline is very important, and the signals coming from the UK Government and the actions of the UK Government are also important. Those entering a degree for four years in the academic year 1920 will graduate in 2023. While the Tories argue among themselves what transition means, those students will have left university way after the transition period, so they do not need to just know what is happening during transition, they need to know what is happening after transition. While we have taken the steps today to set out our positive case for why students should come here, I encourage the UK Government to decide what transition means in general, but what it means for students and, importantly, what it means afterwards to ensure that we have freedom of movement and encourage our students to stay here, not just for their course, but after that, too. I join with colleagues in welcoming the clarity that today's statement brings. However, with the well-documented pressure on funded places here in Scotland and a number of Scottish young people missing out on their preferred university choice, I wonder if the minister could explain what today's statement will mean for them. I am sure that Oliver Mundell is aware that we have a record number of Scottish applicants being accepted to university in 2017, an increase of 3 per cent. We also have a record number of 18-year-olds from the most deprived communities going to university as well. We are seeing encouraging signs of widening access within our system. That does not go far enough, as far as I am concerned, and that is why the Government continues to encourage universities to pick up the piece of change when it comes to widening access. However, this Government is delivering, not just for EU students but also for our Scottish domestic health students as well. I remind members that I am the PLO to the Education Secretary. Can the minister outline what discussions she has had with the UK Government regarding the future of the Erasmus Plus programme after the UK's withdrawal from the EU and how she plans to continue to put pressure on them to ensure that these vital international exchanges are not lost, thanks to the reckless actions of the UK Tory Government? As I mentioned in my statement, Erasmus Plus is an exceptionally important programme, not just for our universities but also for those within youth groups, schools and adult education. It is also more valuable for some of those individuals who might not have the opportunity to have international mobility if it was not for the schemes for Erasmus Plus. We hear warm words about the importance of Erasmus Plus coming from the UK Government, but until we have any clarity about freedom of movement and clarity about what will be happening to our citizens and those from across Europe and how they will be encouraged to come to live and to work here, those doubts are still being felt by individuals who will make decisions about whether they will come to study here or go to study elsewhere. I will continue to raise my concerns with other ministers to the UK Government that we need an early sign of a definitive policy from them. I will be raising the issue with the newly appointed UK Minister for Higher Education when we meet. Mary Feed, full by Ross Greer. I welcome today's announcement by the minister to support Afghan interpreters who risk life to assist our armed forces in their home country to study in Scotland. Can the minister give us any indication of how many Afghan students the extension of support will apply to, what analysis has been done on the costs and what educational and financial assistance will be provided to the families of Afghan interpreters who were born out with Scotland? I thank the member for the encouragement and change that we have made. This is an issue that is all about fairness in our education system and the ability for Afghan interpreters to have the chance to go to colleges and to universities. It is important to ensure that we support those individuals during that process. COSLA has shown that there are currently 313 Afghan nationals under the scheme living in five local authority areas in Scotland, with potentially a further cohort that will be settled in Glasgow and in Verklyde local authority areas. That is a rough approximation of the numbers of individuals that we are talking about. The difference will, of course, make to each individual's life. It is, of course, incalculable. I would be delighted if some of the Afghan nationals that I have talked about in that 313 will be able to take part in our college and university courses and take a full advantage of campus life. Like colleagues, I welcome the Scottish Government's continued support for the Erasmus Plus programme. As has already been mentioned, it is a huge benefit to young people in Scotland—not just university students but young people from a variety of backgrounds across all of Scotland. Can I ask the minister if the Government is exploring options for continued Scottish participation in Erasmus Plus in some way in the absence of any agreed UK-wide participation post Brexit? I accept that that would depend on the wider terms of the Brexit settlement. The last point that Mr Greer made is the important one. We will do everything, as is the Scottish Government and stakeholders in Scotland, to work our way through what can be done here and within the powers of the Scottish Parliament. What works best for Scotland would be, of course, to continue within Erasmus Plus. It is the simplest and the most obvious answer to that. However, all of that depends on freedom of movement. All of that depends on many aspects that are much, much wider than education. In many ways, that is what is hindering progress. We can all agree—I had to be fair to my counterpart in the UK prior to the latest reshuffle, George Johnson. He understood the importance of Erasmus Plus 2 when he got into the wider morass of Tory Government policies on freedom of movement and welcoming students to come here. He was prevented from doing what he wanted to do on that. However, I would hope that we will be able to get some movement around freedom of movement and encouraging students to come here, whether it is for Erasmus Plus or for an entire degree. Tavish Scott, to be followed by Sandra White. I agree with the Government's proposals to support students from neighbouring EU countries in the 1920 academic year and for their period of study. Will she be able to set out the likely cost of that proposal given the previous and current financial years? Finally, will she agree that it would be important to take students out of the UK immigration figures because they are part of our future and Europe's future? The last thing that they should be doing is being part of is a political battle over Brexit. Of course, as Tavish Scott will be well aware, the number of funded places in Scotland is determined. That allows Scottish Domiciled and EU students to get their places from that, so that the figures of how much will be cost will be based on the number of funded places every year. It is important that we encourage the Scottish Domiciled students to continue to apply to university and to encourage EU nationals not just to apply but to take up their place within our universities. It is exceptionally important that we continue that work. As I said in my statement, an unfortunate decrease in the number of applications taken up by EU nationals. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I am very much welcome to the announcement by the minister in particular about the Afghan interpreters, an area in which I have worked with Afghans in my constituency. I must thank Asif and others for their help in regard to ensuring justice for them as well. Those people have came over, they helped our armed forces and yet were denied the right to come here and learn. Can the minister clarify for me when she intends to lay the legislation that will enable the Afghans to go on to further education and would she agree with me that it really is absurd and unfair and in just the UK Government rules can prevent people like the Afghan interpreters from coming here or anywhere else to further education? I will begin by commending the work that Sandra White has been doing within her constituency and within the city of Glasgow with Afgan interpreters to ensure that that was brought to the attention of myself. I am delighted to be able to say that regulations will be laid shortly and they will be due to come into place for the start of the 2018-19 academic year. It is very important that we ensure that we pay tribute to the work of Afgan interpreters and the way that we can do that within the powers of the Scottish Parliament is to ensure that we will encourage them to take a full part in life in Scotland, and that includes within our further and higher education institutions. Jamie Halcro Johnston will be followed by Keith Forbes. Given that the minister recognises the value of Erasmus Plus and recognises the need for further dialogue on the future of Erasmus Plus, will she at least welcome that, as with her announcement on tuition costs, the UK Government has provided assurances that successful bids to the Erasmus Plus programme that is submitted while the UK is still a member's state? Will she be guaranteed, even if they are not approved or that payments continue after we leave the EU? I will welcome any announcements from the UK Government that will give any clarity whatsoever to what will be happening before we leave the EU during the transition period or, indeed, after the transition period, but those just simply do not go far enough. We have spoken in my statement about the fact that these are individuals that we are talking about that have to make life choices. I talked about the timescale about what those individuals are looking at. They will be leaving university at a time where we have left Brexit, where the transition period is long gone, and they have no idea on their immigration status. They do not know whether they will be welcome to stay here or not. Yes, I would welcome any deliberations that the UK Government makes around Erasmus Plus, but they need to give clarity to what will happen to students and, indeed, wider EU nationals in Scotland until then. It is too little, and I fear that it might be too late for some. The moves go a long way in trying to reverse some of the damage inflicted to the Scottish economy by the UK Government's cutting of the post-study work visa. Does the minister think that it is absurd that the visa has still not been restored to Scotland? Yes, I do. That is one of the areas in which we have cross-party consensus within the Parliament on the need for a post-study work visa and the importance of ensuring that we encourage international students to come here. We unfortunately have a position where the policy when it comes to EU and particularly international students is based more on immigration ideology rather than evidence. With my apologies to Tavish Scott, I should have picked up on the second part of his question when he talked about how it is important that we do not include students in immigration statistics. Obviously, that is a decision for the UK Government, but it is a decision that needs to be based on evidence. Unfortunately, we have seen in the past that the restrictions that came about that the UK Government put on international students and the ending of the post-study work visa was based on an inflated estimate of almost 100,000 students supposedly abusing the system each year. When the UK Government actually got round to counting the numbers properly, it found out that fewer than 5,000 students overstayed their visa last year. Those rules are based on ideology and not evidence. It is disappointing that we still read from the Prime Minister who was, of course, Home Secretary when these discussions were being debated. Her position as Prime Minister is still that international students should be included within immigration status. That bears no relation to the evidence involved. I hope that that is the one thing that the Prime Minister will change her mind on. That is her 20 minutes, but if we concise, I will get the last two questions in. Daniel Johnson is to be followed by Gordon MacDonald. The doubling of the value of the saltiles for scholarships is clearly welcome. However, it would seem to come at the expense of the number. My understanding is that the number of scholarships was 100 last year, falling to 50 this year. Could the minister outline the rationale for this fall? As I said during my statement, one of the issues that was brought up when we were discussing with previous scholars and also with the institutions is that we needed to do more to ensure that we built up a meaningful alumni programme at the end of it. The number of 50 allows us to have activities while they are in Scotland that will be large enough to sustain that work. It is based on the fact that we want to do more than just get 100 people here. We want people to come to be fully immersed in what our universities are all about and, indeed, the wider industry is all about. We want to sustain that relationship once they leave. The changes to the system have been based on our discussions with institutions and, indeed, with the individuals about what more we could do to support them once their studies are finished. Minister, further to your answer to my colleague Kate Forbes regarding the post-study work visa, would you agree with me that the best way to solve issues around this is for immigration to be devolved to this Parliament? Yes, I would. It is a very important issue that we need to look at. All Government ministers will seek to solve a problem when they come up. Unfortunately, when it comes to EU and international students—and I encourage them—we are doing that with one hand tied behind our back. I spoke previously about the restrictions that are being placed on international students and the obsession with the UK Government counting international students as parts of the immigration figures. It bears no evidence to actual reality and is also damaging to our economy. The quicker we can have these powers here in the Scottish Parliament and take the right decisions for the economy in Scotland, the better. I thank the minister and members for their contributions. That concludes our statement on supporting students who have been able to study in Scotland.