Backing for rural visa scheme to tackle chronic staff shortages in Badenoch and Strathspey
There has been widespread backing from business leaders in Badenoch and Strathspey for the Scottish Government’s proposal for a rural visa pilot scheme to help combat the chronic staffing shortages they are facing.
Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch MSP Kate Forbes made an impassioned plea at Holyrood last night in a debate calling on the UK Government to urgently review its position on the proposals to ease recruitment and retention issues in her constituency.
Scores of businesses have told her that they have been heavily dependent on staff from the European Union to fill vacancies.
However, as immigration policy is reserved to Westminster, Scotland has no recourse to increase access to the labour market for key areas.
During the members’ debate led by Ms Forbes (SNP), she said: "It’s rare to find an issue that unites businesses across rural Scotland, unites political parties in the parliament and unites organisations across the public, private and third sector but the Scottish Government’s proposal for a rural visa pilot does just that.
"Such is the pressure on the labour market right now, and such are the stark warnings about rural depopulation, it is hardly a surprise that there is widespread support for a rural visa."
She said the scheme would allow for bespoke immigration, meeting the needs of particular sectors and geographies and enriching our communities and our society.
The MSP continued: "It is modelled on the successful Canadian Atlantic Immigration Program which proves it could work even in a devolved context and could be transformational for local economies.
"And yet despite widespread support, despite the obvious benefits for rural Scotland and despite the comprehensive work that has gone into developing the proposal, it hasn’t progressed – because the UK Government has blocked it.
"And so today I reissue the call to the UK Government to change their stance and think again: we need a rural visa pilot, our businesses, communities and public sector services need a rural visa pilot."
"It is the only sensible solution – especially as the Tories pursue an increasingly damaging, ruthless and despicable immigration policy that pulls up the drawbridge and sends a signal to the world that the UK is unwelcoming."
Gareth Paschke, owner of the Cairn Hotel in Carrbridge, said that a rural visa scheme would be 'a massive help' not only to the hospitality sector but also agriculture, forestry and other industries.
He commented: "We have always employed as many local staff as possible but the big challenge after Brexit if that the much larger operators which very much relied on overseas workers have soaked up a lot more of the local workforce.
"We do not have the same budgets as they do so they can pay more than we would do normally.
"There are no more local staff left and that is where it is becoming a real problem."
Sam Faircliff, managing director of the Cairngorm Brewery in Aviemore, said the staff shortages meant they are only able open five days a week at their Winking Owl bar and restaurant.
"At the weekend we were unable to serve at full capacity in our restaurant despite the demand from visitors due to a shortage of front of house personnel," she said.
"This has been ongoing since Brexit and the Covid pandemic and is not getting any better.
"The lack of homes for workers in Aviemore is the biggest challenge together with poor public transport provision after 9pm and very often lack of taxis after midnight which does not allow for hospitality workers to get home to other villages.”
Tamasina Cassidy, of the Rowan Tree Hotel by Aviemore, said there is simply not enough staff in the local area which has led to high demand and is pushing up costs.
"Combined with not having enough staff to trade at optimal levels, many businesses in the area have had to curtain their hours of operation," she said. "In some cases businesses are becoming less viable.
"This is leading to a less than ideal guest experience at times with guests unable to find anywhere to eat locally if they haven’t booked in advance.
"Long term this could be detrimental to our area, as guests will remember this and recount it to other possible visitors."
David Richardson, Federation of Small Businesses’ Highlands and Islands development manager, said: "Quite simply, the staffing crisis in the strath and the wider Highlands is down to the absence of local workers – there are far too many jobs chasing far too few job-seekers.
"The result? Over 80 per cent of Highland businesses had to cut opening hours, services or both last year, and it’s no better this.
“In the past, the situation was alleviated by businesses accessing overseas workers during the ‘season’, a far higher proportion doing so in the Highlands than elsewhere."
Cairngorms Business Partnership chief Mark Tate said they would welcome and support any measure that increases the supply of labour in the region.
The rural visa proposal would allow rural communities to attract workers in line with their distinct needs.
Employers could then advertise vacancies within designated geographic areas, using the pilot.
They could then assess prospective candidates before recommending chosen candidates to the Home Office for final approval and security checks.
An FSB survey conducted just after the Brexit vote found that 42 per cent of Highland businesses had at least one EU worker on the books compared to 21 per cent for the UK average.
But Highlands regional MSP Edward Mountain (Scottish Conservative) said blaming Brexit was a cop-out.
He said: “The challenge of finding people to work in rural areas was a problem before Brexit. I support training people to work in the hospitality and agricultural sector and rewarding them for these skills.
"We need to make sure that the jobs we need filling are paid sufficiently well and that the infrastructure is there to support them. A lack of rural housing and public transport doesn’t help.
"Let’s fix the areas we can rather than lazily blaming everything on Brexit.”
n Read more reaction online at www.strathspey-herald.co.uk
