8. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to assist any businesses that are struggling to recruit skilled workers. (S6O-02259)

The action that we are taking to work with employers includes on-going investment to deliver 25,500 new modern apprenticeship starts in 2023-24, support for developing the young workforce to enable young people to prepare for work, and on-going investment in short courses across tertiary education that are aimed at upskilling and reskilling.

Furthermore, through the establishment of a talent attraction and migration service, our wider programme of work and the work of our enterprise agencies, we will help employers in key sectors to recruit workers from outside Scotland.

I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. Contrary to the claims that are often made in this chamber that Brexit has dried up the supply of migrant workers, the latest figures show that net legal migration to the United Kingdom has doubled since Brexit. It is now at record levels and it is projected to grow still further. The problem is that too few of those legal migrants to the UK come to Scotland. We lag behind every part of England with the exception of the north-east when it comes to attracting—[

Interruption

.]

Members on the SNP benches do not want to hear the facts on this, Presiding Officer, because it does not suit their narrative, but the fact is that Scotland does very badly compared with other parts of the UK in attracting legal migrants to come here and fill the vacancies that our businesses have.

What more is the Scottish Government going to do to try to make Scotland a more attractive place for the migrant workers that we need to come and work here?

I have already spoken about the implementation of the talent attraction and migration service, to mitigate the difficulties that our employers have faced post-Brexit. [

Interruption

.]

The Presiding Officer:

Members!

Murdo Fraser must have been living in a cupboard if he has not had the level of representation from employers in his area that I have had in my area and from across Scotland about the impact that Brexit has had through cutting freedom of movement.

We continue to call on the UK Government to ensure that it has an immigration system that is more suitable to the needs of people in Scotland. I progressed that work in my previous role, alongside Mairi Gougeon—for instance, with a rural visa pilot, which many on the Conservative benches would support, despite the fact that the Secretary of State for Scotland is currently holding it up.

The Presiding Officer:

That concludes general question time.

Before we move to First Minister’s question time, I invite members to join me in welcoming to the gallery the Rt Hon Catherine Gotani Hara MP, Speaker of the National Assembly of Malawi. [

Applause

.]

I also invite members to join me in welcoming Dr Husam Zomlot, head of the Palestinian Mission to the United Kingdom. [

Applause

.]