Mitigating, Tackling and Responding to the Skills Impact of Brexit
The result of the division on motion S6M-00382, in the name of Richard Lochhead, on mitigating, tackling and responding to the skills impact of Brexit, as amended, is: For 91, Against 29, Abstentions 1.
Motion, as amended, agreed to,
That the Parliament agrees that a skilled and productive workforce is vital to addressing labour market inequalities, creating fairer workplaces and delivering an inclusive, green recovery; recognises that employers in sectors disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic are now reporting skills shortages as a result of the ending of free movement, and that colleges and universities share concern over the impact of Brexit on staff and student mobility; agrees that delivering a skilled and sustainable workforce will require action and collaboration from both the Scottish and UK governments, along with employers and key partners; welcomes the Scottish Government’s continued commitment to upskilling and retraining, including through the extension of the National Transition Training Fund to 2021-22 and commitment to invest an additional £500 million over the current parliamentary session to support new jobs and reskill people for the future; notes the disappointingly low uptake of the National Transition Training Fund to date and believes that upskilling and reskilling Scotland will require more ambitious interventions; acknowledges that the Scottish Government must do more to enhance the standard of living in Scotland, work with the UK Government to support flexible visa schemes and build on previous initiatives, such as ‘Fresh Talent’, in order to effectively address the skills shortages within key sectors of the economy and make Scotland an attractive location to live, work, study and do business; recognises the need for an effective industrial strategy, and calls on the Scottish Government to develop such a strategy to prevent the loss of skilled jobs, promote upskilling in the workplace and promote the extension of trade union recognition to prevent exploitation of migrant labour and secure future fiscal sustainability.