The Scottish Government

FM's statement on Fresh Talent

First Minister Jack McConnell

Fresh Talent

Statement to Parliament, February 25, 2004

Presiding Officer.

I wish to make a statement on our new policy to attract Fresh Talent to Scotland. This policy is designed to tackle the most serious log-term issue facing our country.

Scotland's population is falling. It is declining at a faster rate than anywhere else in Europe. And this decline, coupled with a significant shift Scotland's age profile is making a serious problem even worse.

• By 2009 Scotland's population will fall below the symbolic 5 million level.

• By 2027 there could be a quarter of a million fewer people of working age in Scotland.

These projections are a result of there being more deaths in Scotland than births. We know that for centuries Scots emigrated through out the world, but net emigration is almost insignificant now. Basically, fewer people leave Scotland, but only a few come to live here too.

The challenge is now to counter demographic change.

Go to www.scotlandistheplace.com

But before I lay out the details of our government's plans to tackle Scotland's declining population there is one message I want to make very clear.

The first priority of the government in Scotland, must always be to nurture and retain home-grown talent.

Helping to meet the hopes and aspirations of the Scottish people should be the motivation of every one of us in this chamber.

But, those hopes and aspirations will not be met if our devolved government does not act to counter what I believe to be the greatest threat to Scotland's future prosperity.

Population decline is really serious.

Tax revenues will fall. Falling school rolls mean local schools will close, other local services will become less sustainable, communities will become weaker. The labour market will contract, and there will be fewer consumers to underpin a domestic market.

Our economy will be less dynamic and likely to contract.

But we can do something about this, and we must.

And while future projections demonstrate demographic shifts that are of considerable magnitude, taken step by step, the challenge looks easier to deal with.

Our first target must be to avoid our population falling below 5 million.

To do that we need an additional 8,000 people living in Scotland each year between now and 2009. We want to meet that target in three ways:

• Retaining home-grown talent within Scotland,
• encouraging Scots who have moved away to come back home;
• and attracting some who are completely new to Scotland - from the rest of the UK, from the EU and from further a-field.

Devolution was created - for this precise purpose. To tackle a tough, long term problem in our national interest.

It is absolutely in the interest of every Scottish family that we create a country that is dynamic and growing - with opportunities for our children and our grandchildren.

We need to attract and welcome new people. We need fresh talent.

And a more diverse, more cosmopolitan country is good for Scots.

It will open minds and broaden horizons.

It will stimulate ambitions and ideas - to travel, to see some of the world, to learn from others. But to come home too.

Why would people come to Scotland?

There are some who think that people will only move if there are job opportunities. There are others who think that people locate only according to quality of life.

I believe that the truth is somewhere in-between. Of course Scotland needs a growing economy.

And Scotland's economy is growing. Not as fast as it could be, but there are signs that it will grow faster in the medium term. There are more ideas coming out of our universities, increased commercialisation, greater levels of entrepreneurial activity, more Scots learning, training and using their skills. There are more jobs, more vacancies - and in a few sectors there are even shortages.

But Scotland has a unique selling point. We are lucky. We are known to be one of the most friendly - and educated - peoples in the world. We have a vibrant culture, stunning countryside, excellent schools, decent transport links and good public services. In short, it is good to live in Scotland.

And I believe, in the modern world, businesses increasingly choose to locate, in the places that the people they want to employ, want to live.

A national consensus

Presiding Officer.

Exactly one year ago today, I made the case that Scotland needed to attract fresh talent to our shores - to secure future prosperity for Scotland.

In twelve months we have developed a national consensus that this must be a priority.

I believe this is too important an issue to be party political.

We cannot allow new people to be welcomed by some and not by others.

We will not be able to attract fresh talent to Scotland if our country speaks with different voices.

And while we in this Chamber might debate the best way to attract new people to Scotland. I hope, Presiding Officer, that we can agree on one thing:

That Scotland's projected population decline is something we must tackle, and one important way of doing that is to welcome others to Scotland to contribute to our economy and our country.

What we are going to do?

So today, I am announcing an initial package of measures to stem this population tide. We have published a policy statement which is available to members.

1. First of all, we will get better at promoting Scotland - our people and our country.

Later this year we will step-up our global effort to promote our country as a place to visit, a place to do business - and a place to live and work.

Here we will establish a Relocation Advisory Service, operational from October this year, to assist and advise those who wish to live and work in Scotland. We seek, over time to create a seamless service that streamlines UK, Scottish and local public services. It will make it easier for people to move here.

And we will use the reorganised Friends of Scotland and Global Scots networks to target the Scottish Diaspora for tourism, for business and for fresh talent.

2. Secondly, I have agreed with the UK Government measures to actively promote Scotland as a destination for people seeking to use the work permit route to come into the UK.

Work Permits UK will actively promote itself within Scotland and will work with us to make the system easier for Scottish employers to access.

And Scotland will actively promote itself within Work Permits UK with literature, advice and internet services.

Work Permits UK will also be a partner in the new Relocation Advisory Service.

And because small businesses don't have access to the central resources of big business to use the work permit system to their best advantage, we will create a 'toolkit' to help them do that.

3. Thirdly, Scotland already has the fantastic advantage of being a net importer of students from the UK, EU and further a-field. There are around 50,000 non-Scots studying in Scotland right now. Our universities are world class. They are diverse and creative and they generate a wealth of ideas and energy.

Today, we send a very clear message to all those students who come to Scotland. We would like to encourage you to stay after you graduate and would encourage you to consider making Scotland your permanent home. We want you to help us grow the Scottish economy.

I can announce today, that the Home Secretary, David Blunkett has agreed with us, to allow all overseas students, from summer 2005, who graduate from Scottish Universities, who wish to remain here to live and work, to stay an additional two years. They will be allowed to stay in Scotland and seek any type of work during this time. And after that, they can switch into other legal migration routes to which they qualify.

Presiding Officer, I believe this is an immensely important signal.

It is the first time that there has been this kind of flexibility within the UK immigration system. It is flexibility that allows the management of migration into the UK to respond to local requirements.

And I can also announce that as the Home Office's policy of managed migration develops over time, they have agreed that we will work with them on further flexibilities that would allow us attract more talent to Scotland. To do that we have created a joint working group of officials between ourselves and the Home Office.

This is a perfect example of devolution working at its best in partnership with the UK government.

We will provide central support to assist Scottish higher education institutions recruit from overseas in a more systematic way.

And the Scottish government will also develop a scholarship scheme for overseas graduates. This will focus on the entrepreneurial contribution that these students can make.

The signal to would be students across the world, to our universities and to business is strong and clear.

• To would be students - Scotland is the place to study. Our universities are first class, our cities are thriving and our country welcomes you.

• To our universities - your track record is excellent, and from today you should you build on your strengths and increase your profile internationally.

• And to business - of the tens of thousands of very bright graduates leaving Scottish universities each year, there will be an increasing number who will want to stay in Scotland. And now they can. If you want the best graduates to work for you, then you will need to move to Scotland to get them.

But to the parents of Scottish teenagers, I have a clear message. Our announcements today do not threaten their university places.

Opportunities for Scottish school leavers will always be top of our list. This policy is about making sure there are enough people to make schools, public services and our universities sustainable in the longer term.

4. The fourth part of this initial package focuses on first impressions. While we should talk our country up, we should promote the best of ourselves, and we should encourage others to come to Scotland, we must be mindful of what others see when they come to Scotland for the first time.

I meet regularly with senior figures in Scotland's top companies. They stress the importance of first impressions of a country.

That we are a welcoming country should be clearly reflected in our ports, airports, bus and rail stations.

This needs a fresh approach and a national effort to achieve it.

Finally, as this policy develops, and as its success beds in, there will be further implications for public policy. To date we have been preparing ourselves for inevitable population decline, and of a dramatically ageing population.

But from today, decline is no longer inevitable and we should prepare ourselves for possibility of growth.

In the first instance, there maybe an impact on projected housing demand. Margaret Curran, the Communities Minister will examine the implications of this policy on our housing policy, and consider how we respond.

Conclusion

Presiding Officer,

I believe the proposals I have outlined today are a start. A good start in demonstrating that Scotland is serious about growth.

We want to grow our economy and we want our country to grow too - in profile, image and stature.

Nurturing and retaining home-grown talent, encouraging ex-Scots back home and attracting fresh talent to our country sends a very strong signal to the world.

That Scotland is back on the map, and is making her mark.

It is a bold step for a small devolved country like ours to take. But one that I am confident our people will rise to. For centuries we have been welcomed overseas. Now it is time for Scotland to be as welcoming in return.

Our message today is clear. If you have ambitions and you want to live and work in a dynamic country with a good quality of life then this is the time and Scotland is the place.