SCOTLAND should be allowed to introduce its own visa scheme for international graduates, an influential Holyrood committee has said.
The Devolution (Further Powers) Committee, which has been examining the impact of the UK Government scrapping a system that allowed non-EU students to stay and work for two years, said it had heard overwhelming evidence that the move had damaged the country and its universities.
It has challenged the UK immigration minister James Brokenshire to appear at Holyrood and set out his position. The cross-party group said it believed the case had already been made for the reintroduction of a scheme, and said that Mr Brokenshire should explain what further evidence would be needed for him to agree to the move.
Universities Scotland has said that imposing the less generous system has cost the Scottish economy £250 million, with the country's universities missing out on a global education boom, with the reintroduction of a new system backed by all five Holyrood parties including the Scottish Tories.
Bruce Crawford, the convenor of the committee, said a clear consensus had emerged that the current visa scheme, which gives international students just four months to find a graduate level job paying at least £20,500 with a registered employer, was "not delivering for Scotland".
He added: "The Committee considers there is robust evidence that identifies the decision to remove the Post-Study Work Visa scheme as a major factor in the Scottish education sector falling behind competitor countries in attracting international students.
"Without post-study work opportunities our higher and further education institutions are being disadvantaged. As a direct result of this policy, domestic business is being deprived of world-class talent, that’s trained and developed in Scotland. Given the demographic profile of Scotland, that’s a position we can ill-afford."
He added: "Our committee recommends that a post-study work scheme be reintroduced in Scotland. More generally, this episode highlights yet again, the need for good working relations between the two governments north and south of the border."
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