Jackie Baillie: Labour open to talks over Scottish visa

She said it would be her party's plan if it wins the general election on Thursday to bring in a new system which matched immigration to the needs for certain skills and also to encourage more people coming into the UK to live and work in Scotland.

"So we would do what the Tories have not done which is to marry those two together because I know there are skill shortages in different parts of the UK including in Scotland - for instance in the care sector," she said.

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"So how do we make sure to match our immigration system to skills is something that is very firmly on the agenda at a UK level and Scotland would benefit from that."

She added: "Given the levels of immigration that there are - and that's become a hot topic - actually not many people are ending up in Scotland and we need to understand why that is and whether there is something we can do to incentivise people to come more to Scotland once they have reached the UK, that is a job for us to think through."

It was pointed out that the Labour manifesto did not provide any additional powers to the Scottish Parliament and whether the party's manifesto for the 2026 Holyrood election may do so.

(Image: Gordon Terris) Political correspondent Kathleen Nutt interviewing Scottish Labour deputy leader and election campaign chair Dame Jackie Baillie. Photo: Gordon Terris.

She was asked if Labour would be open to some aspect of immigration being devolve, for example allowing Holyrood powers over a Scottish visa after 2026.

"There would be discussions to have at that time until then I am absolutely fixed on 4 July polling day. All my energy is going into that. But I would expect governments to work together, to talk to each other, to respond to each other's needs."

She added: "So there would be dialogue and discussion but we need to recognise that growing home grown talent is really important."

"At the moment there are no plans for one, but I think if you have governments taking common sense approaches that an incoming Labour government would do, then dialogue will continue."

Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon launched a plan for a Scottish visa pilot scheme in 2020 which would have allowed businesses and organisations in remote and rural communities an exemption from UK immigration rules over hiring EU and other foreign nationals.

Ministers in Edinburgh sought approval for the scheme which would have enabled firms to recruit staff from overseas who earned less than the required income threshold set by the Home Office to obtain a visa under the government's regulations.

Sectors which have considerably relied on employees from eastern Europe and other parts of the EU such as the care sector, hospitality and farming have struggled to fill vacancies with the problem particularly acute in the Highlands and Islands.

The pilot proposed that firms would sponsor foreign nationals for four years during which they would be obliged to live in a more remote community.

Afterwards, restrictions would be lifted and the workers would be free to life anywhere in the UK. However, they would be "strongly encouraged" to settle in the area where they arrived.

However, the Home Office blocked the pilot programme.

Scotland's population is set to fall and become older by 2045 presenting challenges about how to fund public services facing more demand with fewer people working to generate revenue through income tax.

It has been an issue of considerable concern for successive governments in Holyrood with both the SNP and Labour seeking to bring in policies to help address the issue.

Former Labour First Minister Jack McConnell launched the Fresh Talent Initiative in February 2024 saying he was doing to as a way of countering the "biggest challenge facing Scotland" of its falling population.

The scheme allowed overseas students from non EU countries studying in Scotland to remain in the country to work for two years following graduation.

It was succeeded in 2008 by the UK wide post-study work visa allowing non-EU international students to remain in the UK to work after their studies for up to two years.

Applicants could take up any kind of work, and employers were not required to act as sponsors. If they wanted to stay in the UK after two years they could apply for another visa under the points-based system.

The UK Government announced, in March 2011, that it would end the post-study work visa to new applicants, and the route was closed on 5 April 2012.

It said it had been “too generous” and allowed people to stay in the UK whether they found work or not, and irrespective of the skill level of any job they found.