Portfolio Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament at 12:49 pm on 30 January 2025.
Rachael Hamilton
Conservative
12:49,
30 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with Borders College. (S6O-04281)
Graeme Dey
Scottish National Party
I last met with the principal of Borders College a week ago today.
Rachael Hamilton
Conservative
I am very glad to hear it. However, I hope that the Minister was given the information that Scottish National Party cuts will mean that colleges such as Borders College will have to make very stark choices. They will have to narrow their curriculum, reduce student support or close some of the subject areas, the result of which will be fewer opportunities and poorer outcomes for learners. What message can I take when I visit Borders College tomorrow to reassure it that the Scottish Government will support it so that it does not have to make those stark choices?
Graeme Dey
Scottish National Party
The purpose of last week’s meeting was to engage closely with that college and many others in looking at the most practical way forward to achieve sustainability for those colleges in the long term.
I hope that, when the member goes back to that college, she will go there wanting to be open and honest and that she will fess up and say that her party wanted to take £1 billion from public funds for tax cuts—a circle that cannot be squared, as I have twice said to Brian Whittle.
I hope the member will also recognise that the college is looking to focus on land-based courses and on hospitality, and that one of the principal reasons why we have a skills shortage in the Borders, and elsewhere in Scotland, is because of the hard Brexit that her party gave birth to.
Annabelle Ewing
Scottish National Party
That concludes portfolio questions on education and skills. There will be a short pause before we move on to the next item of business to allow those on the front benches to change position.
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