Mitigating, Tackling and Responding to the Skills Impact of Brexit

As an amendment to motion S6M-00382 in the name of Richard Lochhead (Mitigating, Tackling and Responding to the Skills Impact of Brexit), insert at end "; notes with concern the reported backlog of unprocessed applications to the UK Settled Status Scheme for EU citizens and the further reports that thousands of EU citizens resident in the UK have yet to apply to the scheme; therefore calls on the UK Government to extend the deadline for Settled Status applications until the end of 2022; recognises the social, cultural and economic contribution made by EU citizens in Scotland, particularly in sectors disproportionately affected by the pandemic, such as higher education, tourism and hospitality, and calls on the Scottish Government to explore the creation of a physical token for those with pre-settled status to ensure they are able to access public services in Scotland, providing further incentive for these valued members of communities to remain in Scotland and contribute towards the COVID-19 recovery efforts."