Select committee: Scottish Affairs Committee
Conclusion 139
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)
Professor Nigel Seaton, Abertay University, told us that higher education is “fundamentally international”.324 Universities Scotland have also stated that “internationalisation is top of the agenda for Scottish universities”325 and, in July 2020, they published a report on the importance of internationalisation for Scottish universities.326 The RSE Young Academy of Scotland point out that one of the key reasons behind Scotland’s internalisation agenda is that “with a population growth rate below 1%, and large poorly populated areas, Scotland’s industries rely upon an influx of non-Scottish born people across all sectors”.327 They go on to say that “recruitment and retention of an innovative, multi-cultural workforce is essential for research, development, up-skilling and competitiveness of local communities”.328 Outlining the importance of international recruitment, Universities Scotland highlight that “staff from outside the UK make up 22.3% of the workforce in Scotland’s universities, which is higher than in universities across the rest of the UK”.329
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".