Select committee: Scottish Affairs Committee
Conclusion 37
First Report - Universities and Scotland
Published 28 May 2021
Addressed to Scotland Office
Scottish Affairs Committee Universities and Scotland All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
It is not yet clear the extent to which this additional funding—along with positive indicators regarding sustained international student numbers—will support Scottish 86 Universities Scotland, The Scottish Government’s 2021/22 budget is critical for Scottish HE (December 2020) 87 Q248 88 Scottish Parliament, The impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) on university funding in Scotland (23 July 2020), p 3 89 Q227 90 Scottish Funding Council, COVID-19 Further and Higher Education Financial Impacts (3 September 2020), para 4 91 Scottish Parliament, COVID-19: Scotland’s colleges and universities (1 March 2021), p 17 92 Scottish Funding Council, ‘Funding puts students and economy first’, accessed 8 April 2021 93 “Universities Scotland response to SFC publication of additional and indicative funding allocations”, Universities Scotland, 24 March 2021 20 Universities and Scotland universities as they recover from the pandemic, especially those already facing difficulties and deficits pre-pandemic. However, Minister Lochhead outlined that the Scottish Government will “make every effort to make sure that no university goes insolvent” as a result of the pandemic.94
From: Scottish Affairs Committee, First Report - Universities and Scotland (HC 54), 28 May 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 27 April 2022 (deadline 28 July 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government's response sets out continued work with the devolved administrations and existing UK-wide policies on international students, immigration, research funding and talent, and states it will submit a response to the earlier Immigration and Scotland report "shortly".
- On the Turing Scheme, it confirmed funding for three years, including "£110 million for the 2022/23 Academic Year". It states the scheme "prioritises pupils, students and learners over staff and inward mobility funding", and says the first year's impact will be evaluated.
- On Erasmus+, it states that President Von Der Leyen "has previously confirmed that association by part of a country is not legally possible".
- On UKRI, it states that Board appointees "are not recruited to represent any constituency, sector or regional grouping", while a legal requirement to have regard to research conditions in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is taken into account. It says Research England's place on the Executive Committee reflects its status as a legal component of UKRI.
- On visa costs, it states that "UK visa fees are broadly in line with our competitors" and that it will "continue to keep visa fees under review".