United Kingdom | Immigration | UK Government announces a series of reviews into UK immigration policy

Immigration 

United Kingdom | UK Government announces a series of reviews into UK immigration policy

Summary

The new UK Government has announced a series of reviews into UK immigration policy and has recommitted to a policy to reduce net migration into the UK.

The independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has been asked to report on:

• Family visas and the impact of the new salary thresholds and whether these should be maintained
• The use by employers of work permits to plug labour shortages with a focus on visa usage in the IT and engineering sectors

The MAC will be strengthened with more staff and resources to complete its work.

The MAC is expected to deliver its report into family migration within the next 6-9 months and its wider report into business migration within 12 months.

During this time, the UK Government will maintain the salary thresholds introduced by the previous government.

The Detail

The new Labour Government’s first act on immigration has set out the broader trajectory of immigration policy in years to come. In a written statement to Parliament, the new Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said that ‘immigration must not be used as an alternative to tackling skills shortages and labour market failures here in the UK’.

The statement is in keeping with the Labour Party’s long term view that increasing net migration and a reliance on overseas workers is linked to inadequate domestic development of skills.

The statement blames the previous Conservative Government for the ‘failure over many years to tackle skills shortages and other problems in the UK labour market’, resulting in businesses having to rely on migrant workers to address gaps in their workforce. Net migration continues to also be a central issue that needs to be pressured down but will require a ‘different approach’.

Transfer of policies

Yvette Cooper’s statement confirmed that many of the previous Government’s recent policies will be kept for the time being, including:

• Restricting most overseas students from bringing family members to the UK.
• Restricting the ability of care workers and senior care workers from bringing family members with them and requiring all care providers sponsoring migrants to register with the Care Quality Commission.
• Maintaining the increase in the general salary threshold for those arriving on Skilled Worker visas by 48% from £26,200 to £38,700.
• Abolishing the 20% going rate discount so that employers can no longer pay migrants less than UK workers in shortage occupations.

The Government will also progress the recommendations around the Graduate visa route, including cracking down on agents, collecting and monitoring data around impacts and trends of this route, and degree confirmations.

Migration Advisory Committee to be strengthened

Ms Cooper’s statement confirms the intent to strengthen the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) – the arms-length migration and labour market Government advisory body – by increasing its resource and capacity with Home Office staff while maintaining  its independence.

The MAC will now be tasked with ‘forecasting future trends, alongside continuing to review and provide independent, evidence-based recommendations on key areas of the immigration system’. Its first commission under the new Home Secretary will be to:

Review the reliance of key sectors on international recruitment [in particular] to look at IT and engineering – occupations which have consistently, over a decade or more, been included on shortage occupation lists and relied on significant levels of international recruitment. The percentage of the workforce in these occupational groups made up by new foreign workers issued visas, are in the top 10 for all occupational groups in the UK.

Significant research has already been undertaken on these sectors and the conclusion to date is that businesses are unable to meet labour demand solely by reliance on the domestic workforce. Where the MAC’s report can make an impact is whether it recommends stricter conditions on visas in these sectors, which would be against the grain of current mainstream thinking. The Government’s focus on ‘reliance’ indicates that there will be greater focus on employers’ habits rather than a lacking labour market.

Spouse and dependant visa salary threshold to be reviewed

The Home Secretary  has announced a MAC review of the spousal and dependant visa category financial requirements which was recently increased to£29,000 with a further increase planned for 2025. The threshold will remain in place until the MAC submits its findings to the Home Office.

Recommendations

Employers will certainly need to keep a lookout for the MAC’s report and the recommendations that will likely focus on business shortcomings in skilling up the local labour market. Moreover, while engaging with the MAC’s commission will be critical, the new Skills England body, which is expected to work closely with the MAC, will be the driver of the new Government’s number one priority and mission, ‘kickstarting the economy’. Skills England will have a substantial influence on where immigration policy, in particular, work-related routes of migration go in the future, which will also likely be influenced by the leadership in the Department for Education and the Prime Minister’s office.

How we can help

Contact your Vialto Partners contact, or one of us in the information below if you have any queries about the content in this newsletter, or would like to discuss any other business immigration and mobility issues.

Contact us

Lyudmyla Davies
Partner

Ian Robinson
Partner

Andrea Als
Director

Tom Marsom
Director

Awale Olad
Senior Manager

Lucy Vaux
Senior Manager

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