MSPs call on more to be done to attract skilled workers to Scotland
More could be done to attract skilled workers to Scotland and encourage students from other countries to stay on after graduating, according to a report from a Westminster committee.
More could be done to attract skilled workers to Scotland and encourage students from other countries to stay on after graduating, according to a report from a Westminster committee.
The Scottish and UK governments have been urged to work together to tackle demographic challenges including an ageing population and lower life expectancy north of the border.
Measures could include consideration of sub-national migration powers'' for Scotland and a tailored post-study work scheme, the Scottish Affairs Committee said. It has published the findings of its inquiry looking into population trends.
Scotland's population is now growing, but at a slower rate than the rest of the UK due to a lower fertility rate, lower levels of inward migration and continuing emigration out of Scotland, it found.
Both Holyrood and Westminster have powers that can affect demographic trends.
The UK Government has control over immigration policy, employment, pensions and the overall funding allocation to Scotland from the block grant while health, housing, social care and some tax powers are devolved to the Scottish Parliament.
The committee found there is a case for migration powers for Scotland to be further considered but made no recommendations about the detail of such a policy, calling for co-operation on the issue between the two governments.
It also restated its calls for the UK Government to consider the possibility of introducing a formal scheme to allow international higher education students graduating from Scottish further and higher education institutions to remain in Scotland and contribute to economic activity for a defined period of time''.
The scrapping of a UK-wide visa scheme which allowed overseas graduates to work for two years in the UK after completing their studies was the source of strong disagreement between the two administrations.
The committee has also recommended that the UK Government looks at how it can take account of Scotland's mortality rates and ageing population within existing funding arrangements, given that these factors lead to significant cost pressures for the Scottish Government''.
Committee chair Pete Wishart said: In all, Scotland is on course to meeting the average population growth of the EU 15 and closing its dependency ratio with the rest of the UK by 2029.
However, if we don't address our relative population growth there could well be an economic impact for Scotland.
Only through the UK and Scottish governments working together, towards the same goals and using the powers that each Parliament possess, can they make an significant impact on demographic trends.''
Much of the evidence for the inquiry was received before the EU referendum and the report does not consider the impact of Brexit in detail.