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Where any good practice exists, both management and unions should recognise it, because they will be involved in the process. I am all for good practice being drawn on to inform the wider process. Again, where there is a role for it and where we are aware of an example, I will not hesitate to point to it as a good, positive example for the wider consideration of the whole sector.

I beg your pardon, Ms Callaghan, but I missed the start of your question.

I think that the role that I have talked about is, in and of itself, a manner of responding to the lessons learned exercise. With respect, the lessons learned exercise should be lessons that each party involved has to learn, reflect on, and respond and adjust to. With the greatest will in the world, I cannot compel other parties to act in a particular fashion. We will look at the exercise and reflect on what we might need to do, but it is for the other parties to do that as well.

I will continue to engage with the unions and management on a bilateral basis. There have also been some forums where unions and management were in the same room along with the Scottish Government, although I readily concede that they are not specifically on this subject matter. However, that has not been with me, and I want to be very clear on this: I am not looking for the Scottish Government to become a direct party to pay negotiations. We set the structure, and I saw that the union perspective is that the structure is right. Our role is to make sure that the parties involved in the negotiation can get round the table and enjoy the benefits of the structures that have been established to try to resolve any differences between them.

Yes, there will be. I am sorry if I was not being clear. I was not saying that the primary responses are just those from unions and management; we are also part of the wider process of engagement and of the process of assessment of the lessons learned exercise. I am not seeking to distance us from that at all. We are party to the consideration of the report, and, yes, we will respond to it in fuller detail.

I think that it will be in fairly short order, but I am also keen that other colleagues have the chance to reflect on it.

I can hear you now. Forgive me, convener: I could not hear to the extent that I did not even realise that the session had started until I saw a very confused-looking Mr Dey.

On the last point, it will be particularly acute during the university term. It is not a Glasgow-specific issue—other locations in Scotland report similar challenges. It is also not a Scotland-specific challenge, as we see similar challenges in other parts of the UK, such as in Manchester and in other cities and communities where there are higher education institutions. It is not specific to Scotland by any stretch of the imagination.

We have to work with partners to respond to that reality and ensure that there is sufficiency of supply of accommodation, recognising that there are other pressures, too. We all represent regions and constituencies in which there are many constituents who are not students who are also looking to be housed.

We have a role not as a direct provider of housing, but in setting the strategic direction in conjunction with the sector. We will do that through the strategy that I mentioned. We need to work with other partners, too. I have already referred to the fact that we have empowered local authorities in respect of the regulation of short-term lets.

Local authorities also have to consider how to balance the various requirements in relation to their own populations’ housing needs. You have referred to some of the tensions that can exist, and I recognise those. They have to be managed carefully by any local authority to ensure sufficiency of supply for the various housing requirements in the locality.

That is a very specific example. I recognise the importance of recruiting into that profession. Those are long-standing arrangements and are designed in such a way as to ensure that any individual should be able to draw down other forms of support that would not be available to them if they were still classified as a student.

I am conscious that the issue has been raised with the Government, and we are, of course, happy to reflect on that. However, I observe that the arrangement has not been introduced recently; it is quite a long-standing arrangement that is very much designed to reflect the fact that, during that period, the person is not in a classroom environment and they are not undertaking any form of study but they are in the workplace. As I said, we are more than willing to look at such things.

Yes, and I have laid that out. There is a reason for the differential—I have answered that question more than once.

On your point about capital investment, that is another issue that I understand. One of the current challenges is that, in many parts of the country, the college estate is the same age and is maturing, which brings pressures to bear. I know that the committee explored the issue with Karen Watt when she gave evidence. We have asked the SFC to develop an estates strategy and I am looking forward to receiving that. It will inform how we respond to some of the challenges. I recognise the challenges that are out there and we will seek to respond to them.

Mr Marra will be aware that there has been a significant uplift in the capital allocated to Scotland’s colleges this year precisely because we recognise that we need to renew our college estate.

Let me come back on that, because I do not understand the point that you are making. Are you suggesting that it is illegitimate for us to invest in that project? That is something that we are doing, and it is the type of response that you will see from the Scottish Government in investing in Scotland’s college estate.

We have seen that in the recent past, with the first-class facilities at Forth Valley College, for example. I am sure that Mr Marra has had the opportunity to visit those facilities, which are a direct result of investment by this Administration. We are looking to do the same with the Dunfermline learning campus, albeit that I am still waiting for the final proposition. We are committed to investing in Scotland’s college estate.

To go back to a point that I have made already, there is a significant constraint on public resource right now. That applies not only to our revenue budgets; it is also the case for our capital budgets. Mr Marra will understand that those budgets are under further pressure as a result of things such as inflationary pressure.