Question reference: S5W-17047
- Asked by: Graeme Dey, MSP for Angus South, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 5 June 2018
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Current status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 13 June 2018
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the benefits of migration to the Scottish economy and society.
Answer
Migration is crucial to the development of Scotland as an inclusive, fair, prosperous, innovative country. It is essential to our economic prospects and our demographic sustainability that Scotland continues to attract the level and nature of migration it needs.
Following the EU referendum we published a report summarising and evaluating the recent literature on the impacts of migrants and migration on Scotland’s economy, labour market, public services, communities and culture. In November last year we set out the evidence about the importance of migration to Scotland, in our submission to the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC). We followed that earlier this year with a discussion paper on Scotland’s Population Growth and Migration Policy detailing the unique challenges facing Scotland’s population and the potential economic gains if migration was sustained. The paper also outlines how a tailored approach for Scotland, with new powers for the Scottish Parliament, could operate.