Highlands and Islands MSP Emma Roddick has warned that the UK Government’s immigration policies are causing harm to local healthcare services and threatening the livelihoods of skilled workers, and has taken the case of a local worker to Holyrood to highlight the urgency.  Her warning comes after an Inverness-based dental hygienist, Akhil Anil, spoke out [...]

Scotland faces unique demographic challenges. Unlike other countries in the UK, we are projected to see population decline by 2030, which cannot be overcome by birth rates alone. Put simply, we need more people to move here to live and work. This is especially true in the Highlands and Islands. Since Brexit, and due to [...]

The SNP Government has significantly expanded the support available through Scotland’s Migration Service. This service, introduced by the SNP in Government, ensures newcomers to Scotland have the information they need to move here and that businesses are guided through the process of sponsoring and employing international workers. Population decline is one of the biggest challenges [...]

MSP for the Highlands & Islands Emma Roddick has called on the UK Government to cooperate with the Scottish Government to ensure a Rural Visa pilot can be brought forward in Scotland.  The Rural Visa Pilot Scheme, outlined as a commitment in the Programme for Government, would allow rural communities to attract workers to the [...]

Emma Roddick has invited her constituents to get involved in the “Fair Begins Here” campaign.   The campaign that was launched at the end of last year calls for “a fair new plan for refugees that works for everyone”.   Numerous charities, faith groups, and public figures have since joined the campaign to urge the [...]

Emma has visited local businesses in Fort Augustus, talking about the Scottish Government’s latest Building a New Scotland paper which focuses on migration policy in an independent Scotland and how it could support them deal with the impact of rural depopulation.  Since the end of the freedom of movement after Scotland was taken out of the EU against [...]

SNP MSP Emma Roddick has told constituents she continues to be a Highlands and Islands MSP first, following her appointment to government as the new Minister for Equalities, Migration, and Refugees.  She has spent her April Recess – a two-week period where MSPs do not travel to Parliament as usual – holding surgeries and meetings [...]