Fresh Talent was a piece of forward thinking. The initiative, set up in October 2004 as a key policy to turn around the trend of an ageing and declining population by attracting skilled people of working age to Scotland, is regarded as an important legacy of the former First Minister, Jack McConnell. The initial three-year pilot scheme to fill the skills gap and overcome a demographic deficit, which was among the worst in Europe, was extended by the SNP government until October this year.

Fresh Talent was a piece of forward thinking. The initiative, set up in October 2004 as a key policy to turn around the trend of an ageing and declining population by attracting skilled people of working age to Scotland, is regarded as an important legacy of the former First Minister, Jack McConnell. The initial three-year pilot scheme to fill the skills gap and overcome a demographic deficit, which was among the worst in Europe, was extended by the SNP government until October this year.

However, the evalution of the first three years by Ipsos MORI raises some serious questions about the effectiveness of its implementation. Intended to bring 8000 new, skilled people a year to live and work in Scotland, albeit on a temporary basis, there were no specific targets. For a measure intended to make it easier for foreigners to move to Scotland or stay here to work after studying, it offers extraordinary confusion. So few people have heard of the Relocation Advisory Service (RAS), the operational arm of Fresh Talent, that its own staff try to avoid using the title. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that businesses looking for skilled staff don't know of its existence. The main advantage of RAS is as a "one-stop-shop" but the principal need of those seeking advice is help in finding a job; yet its website is difficult to find and there is confusion about the various elements of Fresh Talent. That must be simplified.

The trends that brought about Fresh Talent have changed significantly since 2004. At that time, the population of Scotland was projected to fall below five million by 2009. That is not now expected to happen until 2076. This quick turnaround is largely due to the influx of immigrants from eastern European countries which are now in the EU: one in three of the 57,000 babies born last year was to a mother from these countries. However, many skilled workers are already returning home, particularly to Poland as its economy improves, demonstrating that all population projections must now be revised continually. Although the number of people of working age is predicted to rise for the next 25 years, the the ratio of pensioners and under-16s to those of working age will continue to increase.

Scotland, therefore, will have to continue to attract suitably skilled migrants, but the competition for such workers is likely to intensify. England has already copied part of the Fresh Talent initiative by offering work permits to non-EU graduates, and now the Northern Ireland Employment Department is trying to persuade the high number of students who study in Scotland to return to Northern Ireland when they graduate. Fresh Talent was a far-sighted approach. If we are not to lose the benefits of being in the vanguard, its executive arm must become more focused, particularly on matching the needs of prospective workers and employers.