Mr Richard Baker	Chris Ballance
Susan Deacon	Murdo Fraser
Fiona Hyslop (Committee Substitute)	Christine May
Alasdair Morgan (Convener)	Mr Jamie Stone
Mike Watson (Deputy Convener)

Apologies were received from Brian Adam.

The meeting opened at 2.00 pm.

1. Scottish Solutions Inquiry: As part of the Committee’s consideration of this item, Fiona Hyslop declared an interest relevant to the remit of the Committee in that her partner works part-time at Glasgow Caledonian University.

The Committee took evidence from-

Dr Chris Masters, Chairman, Scottish Higher Education Funding Council;

Roger McClure, Chief Executive, Scottish Funding Councils for Further and Higher Education;

Rowena Arshad, Board Member, Scottish Higher Education Funding Council and Director of the Centre for Education for Racial Equality, University of Edinburgh;

Rami Okasha, President, National Union of Students Scotland;

Melanie Ward, Depute President, National Union of Students Scotland;

Jane-Claire Judson, Public Affairs Officer, National Union of Students Scotland;

Will Garton, President, Edinburgh University Students' Association and Convenor, Coalition of Higher Education Students in Scotland;

Derek MacLeod, President, University of St Andrews Students’ Association and Secretary, Coalition of Higher Education Students in Scotland;

on its Scottish Solutions inquiry. Roger McClure undertook to provide the Committee with a detailed breakdown of student applications in Scotland for the period 1999/2000.

2. Scottish Solutions Inquiry: The Committee agreed to hold a stock-taking session of the evidence it had received to date on its Scottish Solutions inquiry. The Committee further agreed to conduct this in public session at a future meeting.

3. Budget Process (in private): The Committee selected an adviser on the budget scrutiny process.

The meeting closed at 4.07 pm.

Judith Evans
Clerk to the Committee (Acting)