UK Immigration White Paper 2025: Scottish Government proposals

Introduction: The Scottish Government’s approach to Migration Policy

The Scottish Government has set out four priorities: eradicating child poverty; growing the economy; tackling the climate emergency; and ensuring high quality and sustainable public services. In order to deliver these priorities, we need to ensure that we have a workforce with the skills and experience to grow the economy and deliver the public services that we need.

It is the view of the Scottish Government that framing migration solely as a discussion about whether numbers go ‘up’ or ‘down’ is unhelpful. Instead, our shared focus should be on the needs of both Scotland and the whole of the UK’s economy, public services and communities, acknowledging that in certain economic and demographic contexts, including the one in which Scotland finds itself, migration can support those needs.

The Scottish Government has seven principles which underpin its approach to migration policy. It is the ask of the Scottish Government that these principles are paid due regard in the development of the UK Government’s Immigration White Paper.

i. Migration policy should address the needs of all of Scotland, including those areas most at risk of depopulation.

ii. Migration policy should encourage and enable long-term settlement in Scotland, welcoming people with the range of skills we need to work, raise families and make a positive contribution to society.

iii. Scotland should be able to attract talented and committed people from Europe and across the world to work and study here without excessive barriers, and our migration policy should support mobility, collaboration and innovation.

iv. Migration policy should support fair work, protecting workers’ rights, pay and access to employment and preventing exploitation and abuse.

v. People who are entitled to live in Scotland – both international migrants and UK citizens – should be able to bring close family with them and migrants should have access to services and support to encourage integration into communities.

vi. The migration system should be easy to access and understand and focused on what a prospective migrant can contribute, not on their ability to pay – therefore fees and charges should be proportionate.

vii. Migration should be controlled to deter and prevent abuse, fraud and criminal activity, including terrorism, human trafficking and other serious offences.

We consider that these principles align with some of the principles that the UK Government has suggested for future migration policy, especially those relating to community cohesion and fairness.

Net Migration

The UK Government has set out its commitment to reducing net migration. The Scottish Government’s view is that rather than focusing solely on whether numbers go up or down it is more helpful to focus on the needs of our economy, our public services and our communities and then consider how migration can support those needs. We recognise that any consideration of need may lead to differential conclusions on both a sector and a geographical basis and therefore the immigration system should support those differential approaches.

Link between work and skills

The Scottish Government supports the focus on skills development. However, it is important that any such approach recognises the demographic context for such an approach. In some communities there are increasing opportunities for growth often linked to green skills, but because of wider demographic change, a declining working age population and high local employment levels in these areas. Any focus on skills therefore needs to recognise this context and that migration needs will differ not just by sector but also by geography.

Fairness

The Scottish Government is absolutely clear that migration policy should support fair work, protect workers’ rights, pay and access to employment and preventing exploitation and abuse. We are concerned that there some elements of existing visa routes that place the individuals on those routes at greater risk of exploitation and abuse. In any consideration of fairness it is important to consider how routes are designed to minimise the potential for abuse and exploitation.

Community Cohesion

The Scottish Government considers it important that migration policy encourages and enables long-term settlement in Scotland, welcoming people with the range of skills we need to work, raise families and make a positive contribution to society. Community cohesion is enhanced when individuals who come to this country are able to bring their families with them and can see a path to being able to stay here and make a positive contribution.