I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests. I hold a bank nurse contract with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

To ask the First Minister what assessment the Scottish Government has made of the potential impact on the health service in Scotland of Home Office data showing that health and care worker visa applications are 76 per cent lower in January to April this year, compared with last year. (S6F-03174)

Workers from overseas are filling vital roles supporting people who rely on them for the care that they provide. This Government values people who have chosen to come to Scotland to make a positive contribution to our public services. Stopping people from bringing dependants to the United Kingdom is short-sighted and risks exacerbating shortages in the care sector. It is wrong that those changes have been driven by arbitrary decisions to reduce numbers rather than the needs of our public services and communities. It is therefore very concerning that the number of health and care worker visa applications has fallen, as Clare Haughey has recounted.

The impact that the UK Government’s cruel immigration policies are having on Scotland’s health and social care sector is a substantial concern. Will the First Minister confirm that the Scottish National Party, both in Holyrood and in Westminster, will ensure that Scotland remains a welcoming and fair country for health and care staff to live and work, particularly those from overseas?

I give Clare Haughey that assurance. The question that Clare Haughey puts to me highlights some significant issues. Mr Sarwar completely legitimately raised an issue about national health service waiting times with me today. One of the challenges that we face in the health service is the congestion in our hospitals that is created by delayed discharge. One of the issues with delayed discharge is that we do not have enough people able to deliver care packages in our communities and, as Clare Haughey indicates in her question, some of the supply of those workers is being eroded by the decisions that have been taken on immigration by the United Kingdom Government. There is a very direct effect on our ability to deliver sustainable health services because we simply do not have an available workforce to enable us to do that. As members will know, we have a very low level of unemployment in Scotland today.

The issue that Clare Haughey raises may be about immigration, but it has a direct effect on the delivery of public services in Scotland. I assure Clare Haughey and Parliament that the Government will do all that we can to address the issue in order to ensure that we have adequate supplies of people to deliver social care and other healthcare activities in our country.