Select committee: Scottish Affairs Committee
Conclusion 103
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 ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
Similarly, academics in Scotland have backed proposals to look at ways in which Scotland can continue an association with Erasmus+. It has been reported that a motion calling for a working group to examine options to achieve this received support during the University and College Union’s Congress in March 2021.233 Mary Senior, University 231 Q242 232 Q198 233 “Erasmus: Support for moves to protect Scotland’s participation”, The Herald, 31 March 2021 Universities and Scotland 41 and College Union Scotland, said that moves were underway to look at how a relationship could be preserved, possibly taking advantage of possibilities within the EU scheme for outward mobility to countries that are not official partners and using Turing money to maintain reciprocity.234
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".