Select committee: Scottish Affairs Committee
Recommendation 94
First Report - Universities and Scotland
Published 28 May 2021
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)
In terms of improvements that Minister Lochhead wanted to see to the Turing Scheme, he made similar points to us as many in the higher education section, namely that it should be expanded with a longer-term budget, include other sectors and should facilitate inward, rather than just outward mobility.217 In relation to collaboration with the UK Government, his view was that “despite four years of meetings”, the Turing Scheme is “going to be imposed on Scotland via the Internal Market Bill”.218 He said that policies that impact on devolution should have input from the Scottish Parliament, and involve the Scottish Government, and he did not feel that had happened in this instance.219 Welsh New International Learning Exchange
From: Scottish Affairs Committee, First Report - Universities and Scotland (HC 54), 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".