Chamber and committees

As a dual national and an immigrant, I want to speak about the urgent need for Scotland to have the right to a bespoke immigration system to help to deal with the chaos caused by the disastrous Brexit that we did not vote for.

As a former community wellbeing spokesperson for the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, I negotiated on behalf of all Scotland’s local councils for a more flexible system to address the needs of the Scottish economy, workforce, our shortage occupation list, and our ageing population, and to accrue more policy levers to encourage people to move to Scotland. Those calls were roundly ignored or rebuffed by the UK Government.

I also argued that flexibility cannot stop at the national level; the system must be able to accommodate Scottish local authority areas and their specific needs. That position was clearly set out in the COSLA leaders report in November 2018 on local authority work to tackle depopulation. Scottish council leaders have endorsed continued lobbying of the UK Government for an immigration system that recognises Scotland’s needs and they continue to make the case that a reduction of inward migration to Scotland from EU countries will adversely impact Scotland’s economy. Sadly, we are living that reality—with empty shelves, wasted produce and fuel shortages. So far, the only Brexit bonus that I can see is the shortage of fireworks.

I have deep-seated concerns that an immigration system that has the express aim of reducing net migration, in which the bar is consistently raised to the exclusion of particular jobs and sectors, causes untold harm not only to our economy as a whole, but to specific regions and towns. My constituency has seen its share of net outward migration over the past four decades, and I will continue to support the work of west coast local authorities as they seek to address the significant demographic challenges that they face, along with their calls for a Scottish visa system.

Inward migration is crucial to Scotland’s economy, and the appetite for the continuation of free movement of people is entirely evident in Scotland; the election results in May emphatically endorsed that aim. We know that it would be the most advantageous system for Scotland, despite what Labour’s Lisa Nandy proclaimed last night on “Newsnight”.

Despite the Prime Minister’s scrambled last-minute plans to introduce short-term visas to attract HGV drivers, the current system is not fit for purpose. Incidentally, some of the UK’s issues with the retention of drivers perhaps arise because we do not, collectively, demonstrate their worth by providing them with a network of safe, free places that enable them to park up, grab a hot shower and access hot food, as is the case in mainland Europe

The salary threshold in our immigration system is too high, and is a barrier to many occupations in our key sectors, including agriculture and hospitality. There should be more focus on the value of, and the need for, a job, rather than on an arbitrary salary threshold. In addition, we should always ensure that we keep fair work principles at the heart of our consideration.

Points should be awarded with reference to the parts of the country that need an increase in population, right down to local authority areas and regions. I know that UK Tory ministers develop a nervous twitch when that is talked about, and they proclaim that such a system would be too complex. Nonetheless, it would be remiss of me, as a Canadian, to neglect to explain how such a system is not only entirely possible but, in fact, works beautifully. Canada is a federation made up of 10 provinces and three territories, which all have very different economies and demographic needs. The country’s hugely successful provincial nominee programmes offer pathways to? Canadian permanent residence?for individuals who are interested in immigrating to a specific Canadian province or territory.? There you have it—the art of the possible.

I believe whole-heartedly that the best way to serve Scotland’s needs is via independence, to give us all the levers of control. At this exact moment, however, there is zero justification for Westminster to retain all controls over immigration while Brexit bites hard. Scotland’s people deserve better, and I ask members to support the motion.

There are many rural villages and market towns in my constituency—including mine—in which properties are hard to pavement. As such, they do not have private driveways. Those properties currently do not qualify for grant funding for the installation of home chargers, which leaves many citizens to rely on on-street charging infrastructure should they wish to reduce their carbon footprint. Is the Scottish Government aware of those situations throughout Scotland? What considerations are being made for the many people who are in that situation?

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to increase the capacity of on-street charging infrastructure as drivers switch to electric vehicles. (S6O-00225)

The expansion of the GlobalScot network is a testament to Scotland’s appeal and ambition on the world stage. In light of that, how will the Scottish Government fully capitalise on its plans to establish two new offices in Copenhagen and Warsaw, further expanding its existing network of European and international hubs?

Good morning and welcome, to everybody on the panel. Before I get started, I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests and declare that I am still a serving councillor on East Ayrshire Council.

I will explore some issues under theme 1, which is, as the convener said, about tenants’ rights, homelessness and housing quality. I direct my first question to Ellinore Folkesson of Living Rent. Do you agree that tenants’ rights need to be improved, and what would you like to see in the Scottish Government’s forthcoming rented sector strategy? If anybody wants to come in after Ellinore, I ask them to type R in the chat box.

I understand that Ellinore Folkesson from Living Rent is now on the call. Ellinore, what tenants’ rights need to be improved, and what would you like to see in the Scottish Government’s forthcoming rented sector strategy for the protection of tenants?

She is not quite there yet. We will come back to you, Ellinore. Sorry about that.

My next question is take a sort of health check. What progress is being made with the ending homelessness together action plan and the implementation of councils’ rapid rehousing action plans? I direct my question to Tony Cain first.

I am after a health check—that is, your sense—of how we are progressing with the “Ending Homelessness Together” action plan and the implementation of councils’ rapid rehousing action plans. [Interruption.]

I think that we might need to suspend the meeting.

I will hand back to the convener, because my time is up.

We have had a significant number of responses to our call for views. I want to explore a couple of views that have come in in relation to Highland and Argyll and Bute. In her submission to us, Margaret Davidson, who is the leader of Highland Council stated:

“we are strongly of the view that the changes proposed by Boundaries Scotland fails to recognise the specific Highland context, particularly in relation to parity, sparsity, rurality and deprivation and, if implemented, would result in a significant democratic deficit for the Highlands.”

A number of respondents from Islay expressed concerns about their island becoming part of the new, islands-only Islay, Jura and Colonsay ward. For example, Islay community council stated:

“We believe that the recommendation to reduce our Councillors to two and to restrict boundaries to island only would narrow our horizons, risk exclusion from important issues that affect us all and reduce the collective strength of our voice within Argyll & Bute Council.”

Will you respond to those comments, Deputy First Minister?

In looking at the matter from another angle, the Electoral Reform Society has said that more emphasis needs to be placed on local community needs than on electoral parity among diverse wards in a local authority area. What are your views on that?