Scottish representation is key
4
New Secretary of
State for Scotland is
getting his sleeves
rolled up in Edinburgh
POLITICS
By PHYLLIS STEPHEN
EDINBURGH SOUTH MP, The Rt Hon Ian
Murray, has now moved in along with his staff
in The Scottish Office which lies in the heart of
the Old Town. Mr Murray was appointed
Secretary of State for Scotland, and told us he
and the UK Government are already
addressing some of the problems which have
caused difficulties for people working in
Edinburgh businesses.
Recruiting staff has been a post Brexit and
post Covid hurdle for many Edinburgh
employers, particularly in the hospitality sector.
Speaking in a recent interview, Mr Murray
highlighted the steps the new Labour
government will take to tackle workforce
shortages, especially in key sectors such as
hospitality.
He said: “The Migration Advisory Committee
(MAC), which advises government on visas,
numbers and skills, will be expanded - and there
will be Scottish representation on the
Committee.”
The Labour manifesto promised to reform
the points-based immigration system and that
MAC would join with other government
bodies to ensure joined up action “delivering
the skills needed for growth”.
Mr Murray said: “The MAC will look at
sectors and also geographies, feeding into
policies of what we need when in relation to
economic needs. Economic needs in Scotland- and particularly in hospitality - are a real
problem. The second part of that is our own
workforce and the big skills agenda. Are we
teaching the right things? Are we training the
right people? There will be a different focus on
getting business, our education system and
people together to decide how we are going to
grow the right workforce for the future.”
A spokesperson for Edinburgh Hotels
Association said : “The MAC’s current scope isfar too restrictive and Scotland needs its own
set of levers to help with current occupation
shortages. We have lobbied UK Government
on setting up temporary occupation lists,
abolition of the Shortage Occupation List and
relaxations within the tier system, so they are
well aware of the issues facing us.”More powers needed
Talking about
visitor levy
By PHYLLIS STEPHENTHE VISITOR LEVY legislation has
been passed by The Scottish Parliament
and will be discussed again by
Edinburgh Council this month.The
council is firmly behind the scheme
which would impose a levy per night
(proposed in the past at around £2 a
night and capped at seven nights).
Councillors will consider updated
proposals on 22 August when the
details of the scheme will be outlined. It
will then be necessary to put forward
the detailed plans for public
consultation - although that depends on
the Scottish Government setting a start
date for the legislation which they have
yet to do. The charge is unlikely to be
introduced until 2026.By PHYLLIS STEPHEN
AN APPEAL is to be made to The
Scottish Government calling for it
to release some of its powers to
Scottish local authorities in the
same way as the new UK
Government is planning to do in
England.
The Labour minority
administration in Edinburgh in
particular wants the SNP
government to devolve some
powers to the capital’s local
authority.
In the King’s Speech there was
a one paragraph mention of the
proposed devolution of powers
to metro mayors and combined
authorities in England. The
legislation is intended to create
an “ambitious standardised”
framework which would
accelerate the transfer of powers.
Now Edinburgh Council Leader,
Cammy Day, is keen for the same
kind of set up in Scotland.
Cllr Day said: “We’ve seen the
UK Government devolve power,
resources and money to joint
authorities in England, yet we’re
not seeing the same kind of
approach from The Scottish
Government. I think It’s time we
did see that. We have a new
government in the UK
announcing more power for the
devolved authorities so why can’t
The Scottish Government devolve
powers? The SNP said they would
do this in their manifesto many
years ago, but instead they have
centralised police, fire and
continue to attempt to centralise
education.For example in the area
of skills development that could
be developed on a regional basis.
Work done through Scottish
Enterprise could be better
devolved into regional authroites
in Scotland.”
The creation of a LocalDemocracy Act, and the ability for
local communities to create
regional mayors, was included in
the 2024 Labour Manifesto. on
which the party won a landslide
victory. In Edinburgh the political
landscape changed at the
General Election and there are
now four Labour MPs and one
Liberal Democrat.
Mark Griffin MSP, Scottish
Labour’s Local Government
Spokesperson, said: “Scottish
Labour has always been the partyof devolution. We believe we
need to push power out of
Holyrood and into the regions of
Scotland to empower
communities and support
regional economic growth. As
well as a fairer funding formula
for local government, Scottish
Labour’s plans for reform within
Scotland include a Local
Democracy Act that will allow for
the creation of regional mayors
and support greater co-operation
across regions.”Cammy DayThe Rt Hon Ian Murray Secretary of State for Scotland