In a survey of Western Isles businesses undertaken in April by SNP MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Alasdair Allan, there was a high level of support for the introduction of an area-specific visa for rural and island communities.
In the survey sent to local businesses, Alasdair Allan asked for views regarding current staffing issues and whether a Scottish Rural Visa would be helpful for businesses in addressing these.
The UK Government maintains the legislative power over immigration and employment issues, and earlier this week published a new immigration white paper aiming to reduce levels of legal immigration to the UK, including halting visas for care workers.
However, the islands’ MSP found that 87% of businesses who responded to him said they would support the introduction of a Scottish Rural Visa. 62% said that they were currently experiencing staff shortages, or expected to have within the next six months.
Hospitality businesses were the most represented amongst survey respondents, followed by health & social care organisations and fishing/aquaculture businesses.
Commenting, Alasdair Allan said:
“Recruitment challenges are one of the main factors preventing business growth locally and are also impacting on some public services. With an aging population, our islands need inward migration of working age people, whether from the rest of Scotland or further afield. We must of course also continue making progress on availability of housing and further improving digital and transport infrastructure to make it easier for local young people to stay and find work in their local communities.
“I would like to thank all those businesses who took the time to complete this survey and for their comments. Many businesses were clear that staff recruitment challenges, made far worse after Brexit, were causing them severe difficulties and forcing them to scale back their operations or consider ceasing trading altogether. They believed these challenges would continue until a better visa system was implemented. Some respondents emphasised the importance of also supporting local people into work. Other respondents felt strongly that inward migration was a necessity and that locals are generally very welcoming, helping new arrivals integrate well with the local community with the right support.
“With so many island businesses supportive of a tailored visa scheme, it is clear to me that the UK Government must re-evaluate its immigration strategy, and should allow Scotland to implement a new visa system for our rural and island areas. This has been done, successfully, in other nations – for example, Canada’s Atlantic Immigration Programme, which is limited to specific provinces. The current blanket approach of the UK Government is clearly not working, and is not meeting the needs of Western Isles businesses.”
Alasdair Allan MSP’s online survey was open throughout April for responses from businesses and organisations based in the Western Isles. There were 39 responses submitted, with each island proportionally represented. Responses were gathered from businesses in the following sectors: hospitality, health & social care, fishing & aquaculture, manufacturing, construction, produce, retail, education & childcare, housing, fitness & leisure, arts & culture, goods & services, local government, third sector, and technology.
