Hansard

We recognise the valuable contribution that is made by those who migrate to Scotland. In every walk of life, new Scots provide new knowledge and experience. However, that is not unique to Scotland. Indeed, Scots have travelled extensively around the globe and made their mark, and that still happens today.

We know that a large proportion of those we train as doctors go abroad to seek better conditions and training opportunities. That has happened for years, but we have not addressed that loss of talent. Instead, we continue to do the same in attracting doctors, medical staff and carers to move to Scotland to fill our vacancies. Many of them have trained in countries that are less wealthy than Scotland, and that has a social and financial cost to those countries, as well.

The fresh talent initiative, which was launched by Jack McConnell’s Administration in 204, demonstrated that Scottish Labour is not against inward migration. The success of that initiative, which was also known as the working in Scotland scheme, was down to the collaboration between the Scottish and UK Governments at that time. By working together rather than separately, policies can be developed to serve Scotland well, and I was really pleased to hear that the minister committed to working with the UK Government on that issue.

In relation to workers and graduates, we should be training our own staff and taking steps to ensure that we retain them in our own workforce. Workforce planning should never be dependent on inward migration. The problems are more acute in rural Scotland, as populations are declining. The fundamental issue with attracting more workers to rural Scotland is not the mechanism by which we attract them but the ability for those people to stay, live and work in rural Scotland. There is a lack of housing, there is poor access to services and there is very little infrastructure. That situation is a result of Scottish Government policy. Such neglect forces people to leave. Therefore, even if we could attract inward migration, the very issues that force local people out will prevent incomers from settling.

That reality was highlighted by the Scottish Human Rights Commission’s report. The SHRC said that, across all the rights that it examined, no human right was delivered in a way that met all the conditions of adequacy under international law. Although that report focused on the Highlands and Islands, much of rural Scotland faces similar challenges, and, because of that, it faces depopulation.

While the Scottish Government seeks to import skilled workers, it does nothing to skill our own people. Colleges are no longer able to reskill the workforce, as the part-time courses that used to enable them to do so have been totally decimated.

I will give an example. The University of the Highlands and Islands used to run a midwife conversion course that allowed trained nurses in the region to retrain as midwives. That course, which was run locally, worked well for nurses who had already settled in communities in the Highland and Islands and who could not move to access training in the central belt. However, that course was discontinued in the Highlands and moved south.

That pattern is all too familiar to those of us who live and work in rural Scotland. Local education and training are virtually non-existent, which means that young people are forced to move away to gain skills and qualifications at a time in their lives when they are more likely to put down roots and meet their life partner. When that happens, they seldom move back. Even if there was a career available for them, there might not be one available for their partner, and that stops them coming back, which fractures our communities.

The reports that have been published on the decline of the Gaelic language highlight those issues. Young people in particular are being forced out of their communities, taking their language skills with them. That explains the decline in the number of native Gaelic speakers. Scottish Labour understands that, if we are to support, sustain and grow the Gaelic language, we must support and sustain Gaelic communities, which means putting economic prosperity front and centre.

Lack of basic infrastructure also causes problems. Even now, there are digital not-spots throughout Scotland. That is especially the case in rural Scotland. That prevents people from working from home, setting up businesses and accessing services, all of which makes it more difficult for them to live and remain in a community.

An ageing ferry fleet makes travel uncertain. When people are unable to confidently plan travel that is necessary for business, health or social reasons, that makes life much more difficult, and we end up in a position in which only the very determined remain in such communities.

Therefore, my question is: how on earth can we deal with that through inward migration? Migrants need homes, access to services and jobs for their partners, and—even more than locals—they must be able to travel to stay in touch with family and friends.

Let us be honest: this debate is the usual SNP Government tactic of creating a diversion and passing the buck when it fails. It can provide the skills, housing and infrastructure that would allow our communities to thrive, retain our workforce and make Scotland—and, more importantly, rural Scotland—a confident and growing community.

Scottish Labour would do just that. We would invest in skills, homes and infrastructure to ensure thriving communities that can retain their own as well as welcome new talent.

I move amendment S6M-16034.3, to leave out from “thanks” to end and insert:

“that there have previously been successful models of differentiated migration schemes, tailored to Scotland’s specific needs, such as Fresh Talent; recognises the impact of rural depopulation on Scotland’s communities and their sustainability, including the survival of the Gaelic language; calls on the Scottish Government to use its existing powers to encourage population retention and internal migration where it would benefit Scotland’s communities and economy; understands that the conditions in Scotland’s rural and island communities are challenging due to the centralisation of services and the degradation of infrastructure, and that migration alone will not fix these systemic problems, and calls on the Scottish Government to build homes, provide high quality public services, provide local education and ensure sustainable transport links in rural and island communities in order to ensure that populations are sustainable in the long term.”