 I fresh whites to portfolio questions on education, on education and skills. We start with question number 1 from Ross Greer. To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out of the impact on schools of its proposed reduction to local authority budgets. Cabinet Secretary John Swinney. Presiding Officer, the Scottish Government continues to treat local government fairly, despite the reductions to the Scottish Government budget from the UK Government. The 2018-19 financial settlement for local government for season increase both in revenue and capital investment as part of a wider package of measures. Together with the additional power to increase the council tax, this will generate an increase of 1.6 per cent in the overall resources to support local services. In addition, we are investing £179 million in the next financial year, up £9 million from last year, in raising attainment and closing the attainment gap, targeting funding at schools and local authorities who will benefit the most. This funding contributes to our commitment to provide an extra £750 million for education during the course of this Parliament. This investment in Scottish education has enabled a total of 666 additional teachers to be recruited over the past two years. Ross Greer The Scottish Parliament's own information centre says that the real terms cut to council budgets this year under the draft budget will be £157 million. Some of those cuts that local authorities have been forced to consider include a £7 million cut from the teaching allocation in South Ayrshire and £2 million by reducing curriculum subject choice and teacher numbers in Falkirk. Is the cabinet secretary seriously suggesting that, if he was running a council in Scotland today, he would be able to set a budget that did not include any cuts? John Swinney I have long experience of looking at the financial proposals that are put forward invariably by council officials to elected members at local authority level. I have also got just about as much experience of seeing those proposals being rejected by elected members when it comes to setting budgets. The reason for that is that the latest data shows that education budgets in Scottish local authorities increased by £144 million in 2017-18, a 3 per cent increase on the year before in cash terms. Obviously, on top of that, we have allocated the £120 million of pupil equity funding. Clearly, a lot of discussion is still to go on about the budget. There is about to be a debate in relation to some of those issues this afternoon, and the full budget process is yet to take its course. The Government, as the finance secretary has made clear, will remain actively engaged in dialogue with other parties about how to take forward those budget provisions that were set out to Parliament in December. The Scottish Government has given an indication of whether funding has risen recently and what the ratio is for individual pupils, both in primary and secondary schools. The spending on education training in Scotland rose by 4.1 per cent in 2016-17. The average spend per pupil in Scotland has increased in cash terms since 2006-07 by at least 10.8 per cent for primary pupils and 13.1 per cent for secondary pupils. The total revenue spending on schools has risen since the Government came to office by £349 million, or 7.6 per cent in cash terms. Alexander Stewart The cabinet secretary recently said at the education and skills committee that he has concerns about the lower retention rate of experienced teachers, more of whom left the profession in academic year 16-17 than was expected. Clearly, that places additional pressure on other teachers, but it also places budgetary pressures on local authorities to recruit sufficient support staff. What work is being undertaken by the Scottish Government in co-operation with local authorities to collect the relevant data about numbers of support staff and assess the relevant gaps in schools? The Government is actively involved with local authorities in relation to a wide variety of issues on workforce planning, but principally in relation to the number of teachers in the teaching profession. That work is bearing fruit because, as we saw in December, the number of teachers in our schools has increased by 543 as a consequence of the measures that we have taken, and by more than 800 since I became the education secretary. I welcome very much the increase in the active teaching population in Scotland. It is for individual local authorities to decide on and agree the deployment of staff within individual schools, and that will extend much beyond the teaching workforce. We certainly actively collaborate through the teacher workforce planning group with local authorities in relation to the identification of the appropriate number of teachers to staff in the education of our children. On Monday, the Education and Skills Committee met teachers in Glasgow. Having spoken with ASN teachers and heard their concerns about a range of issues affecting ASN education and those issues included funding, has the Scottish Government assessed the impact of its budget cuts in previous years and in the coming year on ASN education? The data speaks for itself. There has been an increase in the number of staff working with ASN pupils in our education system. That data is on the record. We work with our local authority partners to ensure that the needs of young people with additional needs are fully met. I recently set out the revised guidance on mainstreaming to ensure that appropriate decisions can be made in relation to the needs and the interests of individual young people, so that those considerations are driving the decision about the educational placement of young people. As it should be, that is how legislation envisages it to be the case, and local authorities are required to make the necessary planning arrangements in terms of staffing arrangements to support such decisions. As the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that there are appropriate levels of accommodation available for higher education students attending courses at campus? Universities are independent to autonomous bodies and, as such, they have responsibility for their own staffing, admission, subject provision, curriculum research and student accommodation. The Scottish Government and Scottish ministers are therefore unable to intervene in internal institutional matters such as student accommodation. However, as the member will be aware, the Government is absolutely committed to the higher education sector in Scotland and invested over £1 billion per year in the sector since 2012-13. That is why, in 2018-19, we will deliver a real-terms increase in Scottish funding, council funding, demonstrating our sustained commitment to the achievement of excellence, equity and education. I thank the minister for her response. The growing success of Herriot-Watt's campus in Strumwrth in my constituency has presented challenges in relation to student accommodation. I was contacted recently by a constituent who offers accommodation to eight of the university students each year. Unlike larger accommodation providers, however, he does not qualify for an exemption from the new private residential tenancy agreements introduced under the 2016 act. That means that he cannot guarantee that students will leave after the term ends, so, in turn, he cannot offer accommodation to students for the next academic year, as he does not know that the rooms will be vacant. Does the minister agree that that is not in the interests of students, the university or the wider Orkney economy? Will he agree to consult with ministerial colleagues about how those provisions might be island-approved? As the member will be fully aware, Herriot-Watt relies heavily on private landlords to provide the student accommodation in Orkney. They have a dedicated staff resource to ensure that every student is accommodated, but, as he knows, it is through private landlords. I am more than happy to take up the details of the issue that Mr MacArthur has raised and discuss that with my ministers, particularly the housing minister. Mark Ruskell, Minister of Education, I think that it's clear that we've got a problem across Scotland. At Stirling University, 181-year students didn't have accommodation last year. Under-18s cannot rent in the private sector. Care leavers and international students struggle to find guarantors for private contracts. Disabled students very rarely find the appropriate private accommodation to meet their needs, and we see increasing rents on campuses as well. Will you commit to providing and researching the data on those issues and then convening a summit of university accommodation providers and student union representatives to tackle the problem, which is a lot wider? As I said in my answer to Liam MacArthur, the universities as autonomous institutions are responsible for student accommodation. It's not for me to interfere in the internal arrangements of how they deliver on the resource allocation that they give to student accommodation and how they dictate who becomes first in a list for the provision that they have. I recognise that there were some issues, for example, in Stirling University at the beginning of the last academic year. That was following a very significant increase in demand for students. The priority was therefore given to students under-18 and those with prior previously known health considerations to deal with some of the issues that the member has raised. An autonomous body such as the universities should deal sympathetically in every case when there is a surplus demand that they cannot accommodate within their own accommodation. 3. Andy Wightman To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides for instrumental music education in primary and secondary schools. The Scottish education system devolves decision making to local education authorities to make choices that meet their local circumstances and needs. Scottish Government investment of £109 million since 2007 in the youth music initiative has made a huge impact helping young people across the country access opportunities. Since 2012, we have provided £2.2 million to the system of Scotland, a charity providing opportunities for young people to get involved in their big-noise orchestras that reaches 2,000 children weekly. Andy Wightman I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. Instrumental music education, of course, is a discretionary service that is provided by local authorities. I have received representations about the future of the service in West Lothian, and the 2017 survey from the improvement service shows varying service across Scotland in relation to numbers of pupils in charging regime. Although the number of pupils has risen, charges have increased by 15 per cent over the past two years, and the number of teachers is falling. I was surprised that the cabinet secretary did not make reference to the specialist music schools, which I look forward to meeting him to talk about, because my understanding is that that is funding support from the Scottish Government. However, given the widely known benefits of instrumental music, can the cabinet secretary tell me what work is under way to review whether the recommendations of the instrumental music group have been fully implemented? Will he consider the production of statutory guidance for the provision of instrumental music services across Scotland? There are a number of issues for me to respond to in that question. In relation to the music schools, the Government took a decision in 2007 to devolve funding for the music schools to individual local authorities, but that was on the basis that we expected the maintenance and continuation of those music schools to be undertaken by those local authorities and not for the money to be devolved to local authorities and then used for another purpose. That would be wholly unacceptable, and I take this opportunity to reiterate the Government's expectation in that respect. On the question of instrumental music situation, Mr Whiteman is correct that that is a discretionary service and that is the existing position. Obviously, I am able to give consideration to whether that should be made into statutory provision. One of the factors that would weigh in that consideration would be the enormous benefits that I recognise to come to young people as a consequence of involvement in musical activity. I have seen on many visits around the country the tremendous fulfilment that that brings to young people and the transformative change that it can have in young people's lives. However, the issue does get to the heart of some of the issues that we wrestle with in Parliament on a regular basis about how much discretion individual local authorities should have to operate services in a particular way that they consider to be appropriate in their locality. I know that those are issues that Mr Whiteman is interested in. There are obviously issues that the Government seeks to take considered and sensitive judgments about, but I will certainly give consideration to the issue that Mr Whiteman has raised. On the point that the cabinet secretary has just made, with 22 out of 32 local authorities making some charge for instrumental music provision is my understanding, does the cabinet secretary agree that the playing field should be leveled to ensure access for all? Perhaps he might give a bit more detail on how that can be done. I think that we come back to some of the issues that I have just raised with Mr Whiteman. I stand here and regularly face pressure from the Opposition to allow local authorities to do things that they choose to want to do and not to interfere in what local authorities want to do. Mr Lindhurst now wants me to interfere in what local authorities are wanting to do. In addition to wanting me to interfere in what local authorities are doing, Mr Lindhurst I presume wants me to put more money into the system to level the playing field. In all my experience, the Government generally does not level the playing field by any other means other than putting more money into the system. Of course, the Conservatives persistently come here and tell us about how they want to reduce tax and reduce the money that is available for public expenditure, but then people at Mr Lindhurst come here and ask us to spend more money. Although I have news for Mr Lindhurst, it is not possible to have it both ways. Pauli McNeill I would like to press the cabinet secretary to tell me what importance the Scottish Government is a matter of policy attaches to children learning, a musical instrument. Is the Scottish Government concerned that almost every council has increased charges for lessons and some have increased them up to £378, notwithstanding what he said in relation to local government? How can we protect the poorest families who have children, who have an aptitude for music, who might be excluded because of those policies? Does the cabinet secretary think that there is any scope of moving forward, notwithstanding the powers of local authorities, to decide in working in partnership with local authorities to ensure that the poorest children are not losing out in learning a musical instrument? I think that we do agree that it can be life enhancing for those children. As I said in my answer to Andy Wightman, I reiterate happily to Pauli McNeill that I see enormous benefits from young people being able to be involved in musical activity in schools. It is a core part of the curriculum for excellence. That is why every young person has the opportunity to participate in music through our curricular model. I see that as transformative for some young people, particularly young people from deprived backgrounds, where it may be a route into their wider learning, which might not be possible because of other experiences and obstacles that young people might face. Let me be crystal clear with Parliament that I think that that is a beneficial approach. The fine question that I was trying to go through with Mr Linterstern and to an extent with Mr Wightman is that the Government is asked to respect the discretion of local authorities and not to interfere in the activities of local authorities. I quite clearly understand from Pauli McNeill's question the concern that she expresses about the fact that some local authorities may be charging what will be considered to be inappropriate levels of charges for such services. There is a debate to be had there about what is the correct balance. The Government is very happy to work in partnership on all of those questions, but we have to take into account the fact that local authorities may wish to undertake different approaches in different ways. What I encourage is a focus on taking forward that activity in a fashion that enables young people, regardless of their background, to participate in that activity. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to encourage qualified teachers who have left the profession to return. We have supported our teacher education universities to develop new routes into teaching, and included in those routes is a return to teaching course that was brought forward by the University of Edinburgh. The university has developed their return to teaching course to create a new and national online course that helps to prepare qualified teachers who have been out of teaching for a while or those who have never taught in Scotland for the classroom. There were 31 students in the first cohort of the course that started in October 2017, and there are 23 in the second cohort that began in January of this year. The course brings participants up to speed with the latest education policy requirements, as well as pedagogy and other educational issues. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. All teachers in Scotland are on the same pay scale, and the subject taught is not a consideration on the level of pay received. There are no circumstances where a school or local authority can offer a different pay arrangement based on the subject taught, and that can mitigate against attracting teachers back into the profession who may have retired early. Given that the workload of teachers varies considerably according to the subject, for example, teachers of English have to read and mark dozens of essays most weeks, would recognition of that difference through better pay not help to reduce the shortage of teachers in key subjects? I understand the point that Mr Gibson is making, but in my experience, regardless of the subject discipline in which teachers are active, they are all hardworking and dedicated professionals who will have very significant workload to deliver. Teachers pay is determined by the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers. The SNCT provides flexibility where a council may increase the salary for teacher if, in the particular circumstances of the post, it considers the salary to be inadequate. The recent SNCT pay deal commits all three sides to undertake a strategic review of pay and reward for the 2018 pay settlement. According to Scottish Government statistics, there is a growing pool of retired staff currently who might be willing to return to the classroom for short periods to help cover some of the gaps. I have a constituent who is willing to return to the classroom, but he is making the point that, if he goes on the supply roll, it could have detrimental effects on his pension. Is he minded under the jurisdiction of Holyrood rules whether anything can be done to mitigate that disincentive? There is a difficulty and an issue in the circumstances that Liz Smith puts to me, and, indeed, I was just looking at a particular case that had been drawn to my attention by Gail Ross. A constituent of Gail Ross's had made a representation, which I suspect is pretty similar to the one that Liz Smith has had. As Liz Smith will know, there is a very complicated interaction in the pension rules between the areas of responsibility that we can exercise discretion and the areas of discretion that are reserved to the righted kingdom government, but also set out in legislation over which I have no control. What I am not going to say today is that I have completed my analysis of the interaction of those issues. Indeed, this morning, I asked for some further work to be done before I reply to Gail Ross on her case to test some of the issues that might be possible to be developed. I think that there is an impediment here that I acknowledge where there is an interaction between the supply pay and pension arrangements, but I am not certain at this stage that it is all within our control to resolve that. Even if I went to the righted kingdom government, I am not saying that it might not be conceivable for an agreement to be reached, but I have not quite completed my analysis of that point. However, I will take this opportunity to say that, in the SNCT pay deal, which was agreed just before Christmas, there are revisions to the supply pay and conditions that I do hope encourages more individuals to see supply as a meaningful contribution that they can make to meeting the staffing challenges that we face. I can only agree with the cabinet secretary's response to Mr Gibson's supplementary question, but it is the case that one thing that would help to bring teachers back into the classroom would be a restorative pay rise for all teachers to make the profession attractive again. The cabinet secretary referred to a strategic review of teachers pay. Can he tell us what the parameters of that review will be? The parameters will be set by the SNCT, which, as Mr Gray will know, is a tripartite body involving the trade unions or professional associations, I should say, local authorities and the Government. As part of the pay settlement for 2017-18, the SNCT agreed to undertake that strategic review. The Government will participate in that review fully, and the conclusions of that will be, I suspect, material to the resolution of the pay awards for 2018 and subsequent years, which will be the subject of further consideration. To ask the Scottish Government how many local authorities pay the minimum level for school clothing grants. We know that the school clothing grant is essential for many families and local authorities have a duty to make provision for the purpose of ensuring sufficient and suitable clothing of pupils. We are taking a range of actions to ensure that the cost is not a barrier to learning. We already provide free school meals to all primary 1 and primary 3 children and all children in primary 4 and beyond to our eligible through qualifying benefits. Through the Scottish attainment challenge, we are working with local authorities to explore further support for schools on removing costs and overcoming barriers. I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. In my constituency, with enormous backing from the public volunteers, I have launched a cool school uniform service, and they can provide uniforms for those children in need. Only weeks in and they have already received around 200 referrals and counting from schools and other agencies. Does the cabinet secretary agree with me that councils should be paying the minimum level? Does he think that the fairer Scotland duty that will come into force in 2018 will make local authorities think about that important issue and help to eliminate the need for uniform banks altogether? First of all, I pay tribute to the work of the school, the cool school uniform initiative, which has been run by the hope to help voluntary group in North Lanarkshire and commend those individuals on the work that they are undertaking. There are discussions to be had between the Government and local authorities about school clothing grants. Some of those discussions were started some time ago, and I will continue those discussions. Mr MacGregor is correct that the fairer Scotland duty that comes into effect this April will require public bodies, including the Government, local authorities and the NHS, to consider what more we can all do to reduce poverty and inequality when making decisions. I have set out a range of measures that the Government takes forward. Obviously, as part of our discussions with local authorities around school clothing grants, we will aim to consider those issues alongside the fairer Scotland duty to which we will be obliged to act. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to encourage more young people into apprenticeships. The Scottish Government and our partners undertake a wide range of activity to encourage the uptake of our apprenticeship offer with a focus on young people through our developing young workforce activity. We promote apprenticeship opportunities to school students and we continue to support Scottish apprenticeship week, our national campaign showcasing the benefits of apprenticeships to young people and employers. In addition, Skills Development Scotland actively promotes apprenticeships through a range of channels on an on-going basis such as their website apprenticeships.scot. We continue to offer more opportunities. Last weekend, I managed the Parliament, the next year we will grow the number of foundation apprenticeship starts to over two and a half thousand from around 1200 this year and we will provide 28,000 modern apprenticeship opportunities up from 27,000 starts this year. With those 28,000 starts, around 900 will be graduate level apprenticeships up from 370 this year. I thank the minister for that response. Despite the various measures outlined by the minister, the SNP's record on modern apprenticeships continues to be poor. In 2016-17, there was a decline in the number of starts for modern apprenticeships for 16 to 24-year-olds and for young people entering STEM framework modern apprenticeships. Can the minister please explain why, after 10 years of SNP government, the level of apprenticeships for young people in Scotland continues to trail significantly behind the rest of the UK? I find that an extraordinary question from Mr Lockhart in the last full year, which we have figures available. We had 26,262 modern apprenticeship starts and an increase from 25,818 on the year before, showing a positive trajectory. If you look over the last decade or so, there has been a considerable increase in the number of modern apprenticeship opportunities across all age ranges. That question is extraordinary further still. When you consider that, since we have seen the morass of the apprenticeship levy that the UK Government initiated, just today, clearly Mr Lockhart was not paying attention. On the BBC, Neil Carberry, the CBI managing director, has said of the Tory apprenticeship levy that it is the latest example of a policy that is not yet right. It has been subject to criticism in the daily telegraph, not an organ of the press. I normally read to the minister on 7 January that John Timson, the chairman of Timson, said that the levy is nothing but a tax criticising the process of drawing down funding in England. What really staggers me, of course, is that the first quarter, after the introduction of the levy in England, under Tory jurisdiction, we saw a 59.3 per cent fall in the number of apprenticeship starts from the equivalent period in the year before. 48,000 starts down from 117,800. Can you look at the first quarter since the introduction of the levy here in Scotland? We see the figures remaining steady and, after quarter to this year, we are well on track to meet our target. To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on widening access to university, particularly for those from the most disadvantaged areas. The Scottish Government's ambition is that every child, no matter their background, has an equal chance of going into higher education. That is why we established a commission on widening access and have set clear targets for universities to help to achieve that goal. We have appointed a commissioner for fair access, introduced a full bursary through young care experience students and have established an access delivery group to drive forward progress. Between 2016 and 2017, we saw an 11 per cent increase in the number of 18-year-olds from the most deprived communities in Scotland being accepted to study at university. That takes the number to a record high and we must maintain that momentum. That is why I have asked universities to increase the pace for delivery for key recommendations, such as the introduction of access thresholds and a guaranteed offer of a place for care experience students who meet entry requirements. David Thomas I thank the minister for that response. Can the minister outline the Government's response to a commissioner for fair access first annual report and also what the Government is doing to encourage universities to increase the number of students that are admitted directly from colleges? I welcome the commissioner's first annual report that builds on the recommendations from the commission on widening access. I will be discussing the report with key stakeholders at the next access delivery group and will respond to the recommendations in due course. Our colleges play a key role in the access to higher education, which is why we continue to invest £51 million a year to support approximately 7,000 places for access students and those progressing from college. We accepted the recommendation made by the commissioner on widening access that the Scottish funding council should seek more demanding articulation targets from some universities. I strongly support the commissioner's call for universities to substantially increase the number of HND and HNC students entering university. That is something that the Government is strongly committed to delivering on, but we cannot do so alone nor can the funding council as autonomous institutions we need the colleges and universities to do similar. It is all very well and good asking institutions to do more. However, I wondered if the minister could tell us what the Scottish Government is doing to ensure that our schools are in a position to offer pupils the subjects that they require for their particular university admission when it comes to entry requirements for specialist institutions like the Royal Conservatoire, Glasgow School of Art and Scotland's Rural College. The Scottish Government takes very seriously our requirement to ensure that we are delivering in the senior phase of the education system. That is why we are undertaking a review of the learner journey from 15 to 24 to ensure that every young person has the choices in front of them that they want to make, whether that is going into a job, an apprenticeship college or indeed university. As that work continues with the development of the learner journey, I am sure that we can pick up points that the member has made today. To ask the Scottish Government how it supports distance learning for postgraduate students. As I announced on 5 January, from academic year 2018-19, students undertaking eligible postgraduate distance learning courses will be able to access a tuition fee loan of £5,500. In addition to that, full-time students will also be able to access a living cost loan of £4,500. That builds on the expansion of the support package for eligible students on taught postgraduate courses put in place for their academic year 2017-18. That change has helped to contribute to an increase in the number of applications for support for full-time students in 2018. It forms part of our wider package, which last year provided £834.6 million in support of £143,110 full-time students in Scotland. I am pleased to see the 5 per cent increase in the number of Scottish postgraduate students studying at Scottish Higher Education institutions. However, despite the increase in Scottish students, does the minister share my concern that the potential impact that Brexit will have in the number of EU students coming to study in Scotland's excellent institutions on postgraduate courses? I absolutely share his concern. The Government recognises the enormous benefits that EU students bring to this country, enriching our culture, our communities and contributing to our economy, both at an undergraduate and postgraduate level. That is why I am pleased to reaffirm our commitment that eligible EU students, considering applying for postgraduate courses in Scotland for academic year 2018-19, will continue to be eligible for tuition-free support at the same level as Scottish students. We will also continue to work with universities and students to discuss the impacts of Brexit and how we can all ensure that Scotland's universities remain attractive, competitive and diverse. To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to improve teacher recruitment. The Government has taken a range of actions to help to increase the number of teachers, including committing £88 million this year to make sure that every school has access to the right number of teachers with the right skills, investing more than £100 million through the Scottish attainment challenge to support universities in developing new innovative routes into teaching and launching the second phase of our teaching makes people recruitment campaign. That action has halted a period of steady decline in teacher recruitment, resulting in almost 800 more teachers than there were two years ago. I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. I have been contacted by some of my constituents regarding specialist teachers who are needed not only in STEM subjects but in subjects such as music and art. What is the Scottish Government doing to attract high-quality individuals from other professions to increase teacher numbers in those areas? In my earlier answer, I referred to the new routes into teaching. As part of that, we have worked very closely with the Royal Conservatoire for Scotland on their new music teaching degree. As I referred to in one of my earlier answers, we have also supported the University of Edinburgh with a new national return to teach course, which is open to teachers of all subjects, including art and music. We take forward regular dialogue. I had this discussion last week with the council of deans of education about the balance of recruitment of teachers to ensure that we have the appropriate number of teachers with the right specialisms in our schools to deliver the curriculum for young people in Scotland. To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to address the report as high people teacher ratios across the low-view area. The Government is investing £88 million this year so that every school has access to the appropriate number of teachers. Our investment has enabled councils to improve the overall pupil-teacher ratio nationally and halted a steady decline in the number of teachers. The number of teachers increased by 253 in 2016 and then by 543 teachers last year. I am pleased that the local authorities in the low-view areas have either maintained or improved their overall teacher numbers and pupil ratios. I thank the cabinet secretary for his answer. He will be aware that, over the past several years, poor teacher recruitment and retention rates have led to a rise for pupil-teacher ratios in schools. In the Edinburgh council area alone, there has been a rise from an average of 4.2 in 2012 to 15.1, now making it one of the highest ratios in Scotland. Given the Scottish Government's stated aim to reach the pupil ratio of 13.7, when does it expect that to be reached in the low-view area? The agreement that we have reached with local government is around a national figure on the pupil-teacher ratio, which has improved to 13.6. That has been met around the country. Obviously, the increase in teacher numbers, as I indicated by the original answer, of 253 followed by 543, has significantly assisted that position. I note in the low-view area that there has been a decline in the pupil-teacher ratio, or a reduction in the pupil-teacher ratio, which is beneficial to the pupil-teacher ratio in east Lothian, and a static position in the city of Edinburgh, mid Lothian and west Lothian. Obviously, the recruitment of teachers assists in that approach, and the Government's budget supports that measure by ensuring that there is not only a strong settlement for local government, but there is also the investment of funds through the pupil equity fund and the Scottish attainment challenge that assists in the recruitment of teachers. Do you ask the Scottish Government what its position is on gender-neutral school uniforms? Local authorities and individual schools are responsible for setting their own school uniform policies and rules, taking into account local needs and circumstances. The Scottish Government is clear that all young people should be treated equally, and schools should ensure that suitable school clothing is worn. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. I am sure that the cabinet secretary will join me in paying tribute to Jess Insull, a 15-year-old who has successfully brought a motion through the Liberal Democrat conference on endorsing gender-neutral school uniform and has rightly received a great deal of media attention for her efforts. As she said at our conference, it is not about dictating the way that anyone dresses, all that really means is not treating people differently because of their gender. I welcome indication from the ministers over Christmas that boys and girls should be treated equally, but equalities cannot be left to regional variation. Will the Scottish Government take steps to require schools to provide inclusive, non-prescriptive gender-neutral school uniform policies? Will it provide support and advice to schools that are adapting or changing their policies to make them more inclusive? Cabinet secretary, can you make your answer shorter than the question, if possible, please? Well, I could certainly try to... The first thing that I want to say is that Mr Cole-Hamilton, I respectfully ask him to reflect on what he has put to me. He has asked me at central level to regularly and dictate to schools and local authorities when Mr Cole-Hamilton regularly comes here and complains about the Government allegedly dictating to and instructing local authorities. I will share the comments that I was making to Mr Lindhurst that must be a lothian condition that is leading to this. I will share my comments with Mr Lindhurst and Mr Cole-Hamilton. There is no centrally issued guidance, but the Government is clear that young people should be treated equally, and it is up to individual schools and local authorities to take those decisions. Thank you very much. That concludes portfolio questions. We will move on to the next item of business, which is labour business. We will just take a few moments for members and ministers to change seats.