European and External Relations Committee, 31 Jan 2006

Meeting date: Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Official Report 116KB pdf

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Fresh Talent Initiative Inquiry (Executive Response)

The first item on our agenda is consideration of the Executive's response to the committee's report on the fresh talent initiative, which appears in committee paper EU/S2/06/2/1. It is accompanied by a covering letter from the Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform, Tom McCabe, in which he discusses the importance of attracting fresh talent to Scotland and of retaining our existing talent. The report and the Executive's response will be debated in the chamber on 23 March. Do members wish to comment on the response?

I thought that it was a positive response that formed a good conclusion to the committee's work. The Executive and the committee were in agreement on many areas. There was a great deal of consensus on most of the issues that we highlighted. When we produced the report, we agreed that fresh talent was a good initiative that was likely to develop over time. The Executive's response suggests that such evolution is taking place, which is to be welcomed.

It is a good response. The only disappointing aspect of it relates to the recommendation over which we deliberated for some time, which was that, in its discussions with the Home Office, the Executive should

"make the case for employment opportunities for those asylum seekers awaiting a decision."

To be fair, that does not really fall within the Executive’s remit and it was quite proper for the Executive to say:

"it is for the Home Office to determine policy on this issue."

However, in the debate in March, it might be worth while flagging up the fact that the Executive could be more proactive in making a push on that.

We will all have the chance to make such points in the debate. In the meantime, are we happy to note the Executive's response?

Members indicated agreement.