European and External Relations Committee: Inquiry into the Scottish Executive's Fresh Talent Initiative - Examining the problems it aims to address, its operation, challenges and prospects
RESPONSE BY SCOTTISH MINISTERS
We recommend that, in view of these changes, the Executive set out clearly the purpose, direction and expectations of the initiative. This will help to ensure a better understanding of how the initiative fits into economic strategy in Scotland.
When the First Minister published the New Scots report on 24 February 2004, he made clear that one of the principal drivers behind the Fresh Talent initiative is to contribute towards the growth of the Scottish economy in order that it can compete - and succeed - in the global economy. The initiative is driven by the demographic projections for Scotland (the only country within the UK whose population is projected to decline before 2030) and concern that an ageing population will affect the economic future of Scotland, together with a recognition of the benefits of a more skilled and diverse workforce.
The aims of this initiative are several:
- To address the projected falling population and increasing age demographic in Scotland by encouraging and enabling people to relocate to Scotland, allowing ongoing stays by students, and other measures;
- To bolster the dynamism and cosmopolitanism of Scottish life and the economy;
- To promote Scotland as an ideal place to live, study, work and do business.
Scotland needs bright talented hard working people who can make a positive contribution to the Scottish economy. Diversity also brings benefits - new ideas, new blood, new ways of thinking. The target groups for Fresh Talent are students, those looking for employment, entrepreneurs looking to start up businesses in Scotland, businesses looking to recruit migrants, and Scots looking to return to Scotland to live and work.
Fresh Talent is a policy for the long term growth of Scotland - it will continue to evolve and develop to meet our country's needs for our long-term growth and prosperity. It therefore clearly supports and complements the Executive's enterprise strategy, A Smart, Successful Scotland.
We further recommend that the Executive take this opportunity to redirect the initiative by taking into account the following additional recommendations.
We recommend that, as well as attracting external talent, the Executive aims to mobilise Scotland's existing talent pool to the fullest extent, paying particular attention to the estimated 688,000 in Scotlandwho are currently economically inactive. The evidence presented to the Committee suggests that some revisiting of the employability framework may be required. The Committee welcomes the discussions in hand between the Scottish Executive and the Home Office with a view to promoting employment opportunities for those awaiting a decision on asylum.
We recommend that, in further mobilising Scotland's existing talent, the Executive seeks to address any barriers to economic participation.
The Committee has quoted an economically inactive figure of 688,000 from the 2003 Annual Scottish Labour Force Survey. This includes students. A more up to date and accurate figure would come from the 2004 Annual Population Survey, which has replaced the Labour Force Survey. According to this, there are 526,000 economically inactive people who are not students. Many of these people will not be able to work, either as a result of health problems or caring responsibilities. The same survey indicates that around a third of the 526,000 want to work.
We accept the importance of persuading more of those who are economically inactive back into work. Under Closing the Opportunity Gap, we are setting targets to reduce worklessness in 7 key areas which demonstrates the importance placed by the Executive on employment as a route out of poverty. We are also working closely with the UK Government on welfare to work development and delivery.
The Employability Framework is still under development, following consultation with stakeholders and partners during 2005, and will be published in early 2006. The Framework will highlight the importance of partnership working between agencies at a local and national level to ensure that anyone who wants to work can be provided with the support they need to find employment. It will set out the priorities and practicalities by which local services can better meet the needs of people disadvantaged, in particular the economically inactive, in the labour market
To tackle the current inequalities that exist for ethnic minority groups in the Labour Market in Scotland, there will be a short life project group which will develop a plan of action which is necessary in the Scottish context and develop better links to UK machinery. As well as ethnic minority organisations, members of the project group will be drawn from employment organisations, businesses, trade unions, the voluntary sector and local authorities. One of the issues for the group to consider will be the economic integration of new migrants. We expect the Group to report in summer 2006.
We recommend that the Scottish Executive report to the Committee on the views it has expressed to the Home Office on the new points-based immigration system it is proposing as a replacement for the many existing work schemes for non-EEA nationals.
"Controlling our Borders: Making Migration Work for Britain", the Home Office's five year strategy for immigration and asylum, published in February 2005, acknowledged Scotland's demographic challenge, and the importance of attracting Fresh Talent. Similar recognition of Scotland's situation appeared in the consultation document on the points-based migration system, published in July 2005. The Executive is participating fully in discussions with the Home Office on the development of the proposed new points-based managed migration system. Officials attend working group meetings, and participated in the public consultation event which the Home Office held in Edinburgh on 20 October 2005. While we have not submitted any formal consultation response, through our various discussions with the Home Office, we are working to ensure that the new arrangements fully reflect Scotland's demographic position to give Scotland the flexibility it needs.
We recommend that the Executive monitor recruitment processes to ensure it avoids depriving developing countries of needed skills through the Fresh Talentinitiative and more general recruitment and report to the Committee.
We already recognise the need for developing countries to retain their home grown talent, and we have reflected this within our Fresh Talent promotional activity to date. This point was made by the Minister when he gave oral evidence to the Committee during its enquiry. However, there may be advantages for some developing countries in sending students to study and/or train overseas, to develop skills and experience which can benefit their home country on their return. We would hope that they would consider Scotland as a destination.
More generally, across the Executive, a Code of Practice for international recruitment of healthcare professionals will shortly be introduced in NHSScotland (in line with UK policy and the first of its kind worldwide). It will expressly prohibit active recruitment from developing countries, many of which are in Sub Saharan Africa, and will recommend adherence to national policy including using Government to Government Agreements and putting in place robust induction procedures. In addition, emphasis will be on providing mentoring support for overseas healthcare professionals and ensuring that employees recruited from overseas are not charged fees for recruitment or indeed for a 'supervised practice placement leading to employment'. However, individuals do have the right to freedom of movement and specifically to the legal migration of individuals from developing countries to improve their position in society. Current statutory powers do not discriminate against the legal employment of an individual on the basis of the country from which they have made an application to work.
We recommend that the Executive develop within Fresh Talentthe objective of retaining skilled workers in Scotland, as well as attracting others to Scotland.
Fresh Talent has a particular remit: the attraction and retention of people from outwith Scotland. It is our view that widening the specific focus to include the retention of home-grown talent would dilute the work of the initiative. However, that should not be taken to mean that we are not taking steps to retain Scottish talent. The Executive has put in place strategies that aim to create the conditions that will both attract and retain skilled individuals. Smart Successful Scotland, the strategy for the Enterprise Networks, is working towards a Scotland where creating, learning and connecting faster is the basis for sustained productivity growth, competitiveness and prosperity. Our vision is of a high skill, high wage economy with a higher employment rate across many parts of the country. Our Lifelong Learning Strategy, Life Through Learning; Learning Through Life, supports this vision by working to reduce the opportunity gap between those who achieve their full potential and those who do not. The goals of this strategy make it clear that Scotland's economy and Scottish society can only thrive if all citizens are given the opportunity to learn the skills that will allow them to actively participate.
The Scottish Executive is engaged in a number of activities designed to attract more overseas students and talented researchers to Scotland, working in close partnership with the education sectors, British Council, the Royal Society of Edinburgh and other stakeholders.
For example, the Scottish International Scholarship Programme, funded through the Fresh Talent initiative, enables 22 high calibre postgraduate students from six countries (nine from China, six from India, two from Australia, two from Singapore, two from South Africa and one from New Zealand ) to study for a one year Masters degree in Scotland. The programme is run, on the Executive's behalf, by British Council Scotland.
We also take advantage of overseas visits to promote Scottish science and to encourage new scientific and research collaborations, working in partnership with Scottish Development International and the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE). The RSE funds researcher exchanges; has established cooperation agreements with overseas academies of science; and disseminates information on Scottish research to a worldwide audience through its Science Scotland publication. We have boosted funding for the RSE's international activities from £125,000 in 2003-04 to £170,000 in 2005-06.
We are also involved in other initiatives designed to encourage international partnerships for Scotland through Science and Research. For example, in May 2003, the Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and St Andrews signed an agreement to participate in a joint PhD programme with several French universities. In 2005, the Scottish Executive, together with colleagues at the French Embassy, set up a small but symbolic joint scholarship fund, administered by RSE, to support each year (for three years) a student on a joint PhD programme.
We recommend that the Executive develop into policy the originally stated intention of attracting skilled Scots and graduates back to work in Scotland.
We already recognise returning Scots as a target group for the Fresh Talent initiative. Through our Diaspora Strategy, launched in Canada in October 2005, we intend to engage with and mobilise the Scottish diaspora to further Scotland's interests for the long-term benefit of our economy and society. We aim to encourage the diaspora's active participation and engagement in promoting Scotland as a great country to visit, live, learn, work, do business and invest. We hope that, as awareness of a vibrant Scotland grows, some of the diaspora will consider returning to Scotland.
We recommend that Fresh Talentis "mainstreamed" across Executive policy rather than being a stand-alone initiative. For example, in seeking to grow the Scottish economy, the Executive may see sectoral employment gaps which a more focussed approach within Fresh Talentmay be able to address directly.
We are firmly committed to ensuring that our key priority of attracting fresh talent to Scotland is fully integrated into, and reflected across, all relevant Executive policies and programmes. For example, we recognise that English language training is an important part of helping people to integrate into new communities and to access important public services. That is why the Executive is currently developing an adult English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) strategy to ensure better co-ordination of supply and demand so that learners can access high quality, affordable provision.
The Executive also has policies to encourage overseas students to come and study in Scotland. To support this, we already have a dedicated team working on initiatives to recruit overseas students, which complements the objectives of Fresh Talent. Some initiatives underway include contributing towards the funding and strategic development of the Education UK and Education UK Scotland initiatives. These initiatives aim to raise awareness of opportunities to study in Scotland through targeted marketing and promotional activity within 21 priority countries defined by British Council in partnership with the education sectors. The team is also continually working to build relationships with other governments to help our education sectors to establish and strengthen their partnerships.
Fresh Talent is therefore not a stand-alone initiative. However, given the importance which we attach to Fresh Talent, we have set up a dedicated team to drive forward and oversee progress towards achievement of our Fresh Talent objectives. This enables us to ensure that Fresh Talent continues to be reflected in policies and programmes across the Executive and beyond.
We recommend that the Executive examine the experience of FirstBus in identifying and filling a skills gap and promote it as an example of good practice.
We have already established good relations with FirstBus, and have held meetings with them to discuss their experience. We have also used their experience as a case study in a supplement on Fresh Talent which was produced for the September edition of Business Insider magazine.
We recommend that the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board and other bodies should monitor proactively the employment of foreign labour through agencies to prevent unfair exploitation of foreign employees and to minimise the risk of friction between local and foreign workers.
The Scottish Agricultural Wages Board sets minimum terms and conditions for all workers employed in agriculture in Scotland. The Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department enforces the Boards Wages Orders. A part of the enforcement procedures is a process of Control Test Inspections on agricultural businesses, selected at random, to monitor compliance across the industry. This involves a full check of pay, etc, records and interviews with both employers and employees. The Department also investigates alleged non-compliance with agricultural wages legislation from agricultural workers (current and former).
The Department shares the Committee's concerns about the possible exploitation of foreign employees and have been closely involved with the Scottish Gangmaster Forum which brings together agencies with an interest in possible illegal gangmaster activity / exploitation of employees. In addition the Department has, and will continue to, focus its inspection attention on those areas of the industry where historically there have been large numbers of foreign workers employed e.g. soft fruit.
Aside from the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board, we are not aware of any body in Scotland that would monitor the employment of foreign labour through agencies. Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses regulation is a reserved matter and The Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate within DTI is responsible for the monitoring of such bodies.
The Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 govern the conduct of the private recruitment industry and establish a framework of minimum standards that clients, both work-seekers and hirers, are entitled to expect. In addition to the Conduct Regulations, employment agencies and employment businesses and their staff should be aware of and comply with other relevant legislation, statutory codes and official guidance relating to, for example, equal opportunities, equal pay, health and safety, immigration, national minimum wage, working time and trade union membership. In particular, the Government expects employment agencies and employment businesses, and hirers, to follow high standards as regards equality of opportunity.
We recommend that the Executive, in its discussions with the Home Office, make the case for employment opportunities for those asylum seekers awaiting a decision.
The Scottish Executive has regular meetings with the Home Office to discuss asylum issues and how they affect Scotland. The Home Office is aware of concern within Scotland about the right to work, but it is for the Home Office to determine policy on this issue.
The Scottish Executive funds projects such as the Bridges Project, Gorbals Initiative and Maryhill CAB refugees and asylum seekers project, which all provide asylum seekers with training and volunteering opportunities in order that they can maintain and improve their skills. We have also invested an additional £5.4m in English classes for speakers of other languages. We believe this training and learning benefits asylum seekers whether they receive a positive decision and are allowed to remain in the UK or are returned to their country of origin.
We recommend that the Executive consider the support that employers of Fresh Talentworkers may need in taking into account the particular social, moral and cultural responsibilities that there may be in taking on non-UK workers.
It is unlawful to treat a worker less fairly - e.g in pay and conditions - because of their race or nationality, sex, sexual orientation, religion, beliefs or disability. Employment Legislation is a reserved matter but information and guidance on a whole range of employment rights matters is available for all employers from the DTI and ACAS websites as well as in printed form.
As part of the Fresh Talent initiative, we are developing a new section within our website, www.scotlandistheplace.com which will provide employers with information about the recruitment of foreign nationals, including refugees and those from the A8 accession countries. This, we hope, will provide a better understanding of employers' legal rights surrounding the employment of these individuals. We will also take every opportunity to work with employers on a one-to-one basis or in a forum type event. Linkages with partners and stakeholders are a key priority to ensure maximum penetration with the private and public sector.
We recommend, noting the Executive's recruitment efforts in Polandfor example, that the Executive undertakes this proactive promotional work in other new accession states.
We are constantly looking for further opportunities to promote Fresh Talent, and are planning further activity in Poland in the coming months. We are also looking for opportunities in the other accession countries. However, in doing so, we need to strike an 'ethical' balance in our promotional work. While some countries within the new accession states may welcome the opportunity for their young people to enhance their experiences overseas there are other accession states who do have a strong need to retain their own talent.
Scottish Executive
January 2006