Chamber and committees

Two members of the strategic funding review working groups are volunteers. None of the steering group are volunteers. In addition, a large number of volunteers attended the consultation road-shows in Inverness, Glasgow and Edinburgh which contributed towards the work of the review. Many members of the steering group and working groups also volunteer on a personal capacity.

A full list of all members of the review steering group and working groups can be found at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/viu.

Information on the number of migrants from EU accession countries who have settled in Scotland is not available. While the most recent Accession Monitoring Report indicates that over 10,000 migrants from the EU accession countries have registered to work in Scotland between May 2004 and March 2005 there is no data available on the number of migrants who have actually settled in Scotland.

On 13 May 2005 the Scottish Executive published Councillor Eric Milligan’s report on First Impressions of Scotland that had been commissioned by Scottish ministers in 2004. The Executive also published ministers’ response to the report which forms an action plan to improve the first impression that international visitors receive of Scotland.

The Scottish International Scholarship Programme will provide places for 22 international scholars to Scotland in the coming academic year from China (9), India (6), Australia (2), South Africa (2), Singapore (2) and New Zealand (1). Scholarship places are expected to be awarded by the end of June 2005 and students will commence their studies in October 2005.

The Fresh Talent initiative aims to provide an additional pool of talent to support the long term economic and cultural growth of Scotland. The initiative is one of a range of measures we are taking to further invigorate our economy. The Fresh Talent initiative will play its part to make sure that Scotland has the necessary skills and talent to meet the challenges of tomorrow.

We have not undertaken any training seminars with Work Permits UK. However, we have recently appointed a Senior Business Development Executive on secondment from Scottish Enterprise who will play an important part in setting out our strategic framework to raise awareness of Fresh Talent and to deliver training and support services to Scottish employers. We have also prepared an Employers Toolkit for use by Scottish employers who want to know more about employing foreign nationals who need permission to work in the UK. The toolkit is available from the Relocation Advisory Service, through the Scottish Enterprise Networks and on our website, www.scotlandistheplace.com.

We are not, and have no plans, to discuss such an extension with Her Majestys Government.

Non-European Economic Area nationals who completed an HND at a Scottish college of further education will be entitled to apply to the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme.

We have been working closely with the Home Office on finalising the arrangements for the implementation of the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme, including the draft changes to the Immigration Rules required to implement the scheme. The Home Office are currently working to lay the Immigration Rules before the UK Parliament in the coming weeks. The Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme is due to be launched before the end of June, and further details of how to apply will be available of the Home Office IND website, www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk nearer the time.

The Home Office will administer the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme. The Executive will monitor the scheme, and will publish reports on its website.