THE UK Government has rejected a call to consider devolving immigration powers to Scotland and changing visa arrangements to encourage students from other countries to stay on north of the border after graduating.

A Scottish Affairs Committee (SAC) report recommended UK ministers consider “sub-national migration powers” for Scotland and a tailored post-study work scheme.

The UK Government response, published yesterday, stated it “does not intend to reintroduce a general post-study work scheme for Scotland” and stressed the immigration system is “designed for the whole of the UK” but that it also takes Scotland’s special needs into account.

The scrapping of a UK-wide visa scheme which allowed overseas graduates to work for two years in the UK after completing their studies was the source of strong disagreement between the two administrations.

The committee’s inquiry into Scotland’s demographic trends found its population is growing more slowly than rest of the UK due to a lower fertility rate, lower levels of inward migration and continuing emigration.

In his response to the report, Secretary of State for Scotland David Mundell said: “There is a question for the Scottish Government about why, with these significant powers at their disposal and with the high levels of migration we have at the moment in the UK, Scotland is not attracting more migrants to Scotland over other parts of the UK if they deem the current levels of migration in Scotland to be too low.”

SAC chairman Pete Wishart said: “Last week, the All Party Group on Social Integration became the latest in a long list of people who have examined the evidence and realised the benefits of greater flexibility in the immigration policy for Scotland.

“Throughout the inquiry many witnesses expressed support for sub-national migration powers for Scotland and for current visa arrangements to be reviewed,” he added.