Select committee: Scottish Affairs Committee
Recommendation 14
First Report - Universities and Scotland
Published 28 May 2021
Paragraph 151
Addressed to Scotland Office
Scottish Affairs Committee Universities and Scotland All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
Academic institutions in Scotland depend on partnerships and connections with institutions across the EU. That includes academics who come from the EU to work in Scotland, who often specialise in highly technical areas which can be difficult to recruit from elsewhere. Whilst immigration policies are key, it’s also important to create a hospitable environment where academics feel welcome. We have heard during our inquiry that academics from the EU working in Scotland have been returning to the EU, and that job applications from EU academics are being withdrawn. We have been told that this is not because they are not allowed to stay or come to Scotland, it is because they do not feel welcome following Brexit. The UK Government must promote a positive narrative—including by using its significant diplomatic reach—that, whilst we have left the EU, the UK and Scotland remain an attractive place to work for EU nationals and the brightest and best the EU has to offer are not just ‘allowed’ to work here, but are actively welcomed.
From: Scottish Affairs Committee, First Report - Universities and Scotland (HC 54), paragraph 151, 28 May 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 27 April 2022 (deadline 28 July 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government's response sets out continued work with the devolved administrations and existing UK-wide policies on international students, immigration, research funding and talent, and states it will submit a response to the earlier Immigration and Scotland report "shortly".
- On the Turing Scheme, it confirmed funding for three years, including "£110 million for the 2022/23 Academic Year". It states the scheme "prioritises pupils, students and learners over staff and inward mobility funding", and says the first year's impact will be evaluated.
- On Erasmus+, it states that President Von Der Leyen "has previously confirmed that association by part of a country is not legally possible".
- On UKRI, it states that Board appointees "are not recruited to represent any constituency, sector or regional grouping", while a legal requirement to have regard to research conditions in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is taken into account. It says Research England's place on the Executive Committee reflects its status as a legal component of UKRI.
- On visa costs, it states that "UK visa fees are broadly in line with our competitors" and that it will "continue to keep visa fees under review".