UK inquiry launch on immigration in Scotland

A WESTMINSTER committee has launched an inquiry into the effectiveness of UK immigration policy in Scotland.

The Scottish Affairs Committee will examine how well the current system meets the country’s needs and look at how easy it will be for non-UK citizens to move to Scotland after Brexit.

Immigration is controlled by the UK Government but Scottish ministers want the power to be devolved to allow a more tailored system to be created north of the border.

They argue it is needed to help meet Scotland’s demographic and employment challenges.

The committee said a key part of its inquiry will focus on the impact of the UK leaving the EU and the likely implications for the free movement of EU nationals.

It will examine the importance of low-skilled or seasonal immigration to the Scottish economy and investigate how this could be replicated post-Brexit.

Committee chair Pete Wishart said: “Scotland is proud to be a multi-cultural nation whose population is made up from people all across the world and it is widely acknowledged that continued migration from EU and non-EU nations is essential to our future success.

“In the last Parliament, this committee repeatedly heard that the current immigration system doesn’t meet the needs of Scotland and Brexit raises new questions about how easy it will be for EU nationals to move here in the future.

“This inquiry will seek to establish what Scotland’s future migration needs will be and how these can be met.”