As I said at the Finance and Public Administration Committee’s meeting yesterday, the Scottish Funding Council will have to work with universities in relation to the number of places. I have been clear on the funding source for the 1,200 places and the reasons why we cannot continue to fund them. Aside from that issue, we will work with the SFC to identify the remaining savings that are required, which amount to less than 2 per cent of the budget. The number of places will be agreed with the Scottish Funding Council.

In a really tough settlement, £2 billion has been delivered for higher and further education. If Michael Marra or anyone else in the chamber believes that more funding should be provided for higher education, they can suggest from where else in the budget the money should come. As part of the budget process, I look forward to hearing from Michael Marra what the spending priorities should be.