AN EAST Lothian-based firm has slammed the Home Office over a visa delay which has put millions of pounds of contracts at risk.
Ocean Science Consulting (OSC) is a globally renowned marine science firm based in Dunbar that specialises in underwater noise – including assessing how marine wildlife is affected when offshore projects, such as wind farms, are constructed.
But a new hire for the specialist firm, Professor Mario Rollo, has been unable to relocate to Scotland after the Home Office refused his visa, apparently due to a technicality surrounding financial documentation, which has since been corrected.
This has led to key contracts being at risk and threatens the delivery of major offshore wind projects in Scotland.
In a letter to SNP MP Chris Law urging him to confront the UK Government over the delay, the firm said that it also affects “critical work connected to the UK’s net-zero goals”.
For example, Norwegian oil giant Equinor has commissioned OSC to conduct environmental reviews related to floating wind technologies.
A senior research engineer in bioacoustics with more than 60 peer-reviewed studies and dozens of citations, Rollo was hired to head OSC’s new Advanced Acoustics & Modelling unit.
He is one of few experts in the world in this niche but important field that is qualified for the role, according to Dr Victoria Todd, the firm’s founder and managing director.
“There is, really, nobody qualified in the UK that can do this job,” she said.
“We've done everything on our end. We are the sponsor, we paid for the visa, we've done everything we could possibly do.
"But the Home Office is just dragging it along. They’re not prioritising it in any way or form, and this is resulting in an incredible brain drain on the country.”
Dr Todd also said that having him in person was crucial – for example, when leading the training of offshore personnel.
“Effectively, we are the world leader in the training of offshore personnel to be able to detect and classify marine mammals in the field,” she said.
“We run a number of training courses that are accredited by the Government, and these are very hands-on courses, so the course leaders would be taking the delegates into our warehouse.
“They would be, effectively, operating the equipment that we deploy into the water, the underwater hydrophones that detect the marine mammals, and they would be helping the delegates configure the equipment and software to do that.”
East Lothian MSP Paul McLennan also hit out at the Home Office over the delay.
“It just shows the ridiculous position the UK Government are taking. There's no flexibility at all,” he said.
“This is impacting on the company's viability; it's impacting, obviously, on the project timeline. The work that they do, they're going to need to get people in from different parts of the world because it's really specific.”
Mr McLennan added: “So it's damaging their reputation but it's also damaging the reputation of Scotland to attract talent.”
The Home Office has been approached for comment.
Share