Businesses cheered the new Home Secretary’s pledge to take “a fresh look” at the immigration system, potentially meaning more skilled workers could be allowed to move to the UK.
Sajid Javid pledged to review the visa system for skilled workers from outside the EU, and hinted students could be removed from the figures when counting annual migration figures.
Mr Javid said he is “working towards reducing net migration and bringing it to lower sustainable levels,” but he refused to explicitly support the goal of reducing it to below 100,000 per year, a shift welcomed by businesses.
“The Home Secretary’s commitment to taking a fresh look at the immigration rules will be cheered by employers all across the UK. The system as it stands is dysfunctional, expensive and a brake on growth,” said Adam Marshall, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce.
“The Home Secretary should start by scrapping the nonsensical cap on skilled workers, which hamstrings both fast-growing firms and the public services. He should then act swiftly to combat the perception that the UK is closed for business - by stripping back the bureaucracy and costs that make it hard for firms to hire the best talent from around the world.”
This cap of 20,700 non-EU skilled workers per year operates by offering permits, sponsored by employers, in monthly tranches.
The limit has been hit in every single month of 2018. The points system used to allocate visas prioritises higher earners, so nobody earning below £50,000 has won a place.
EU migrants face no restrictions.
Eileen Burbidge, the Treasury’s special envoy for fintech, said the Tier 2 visa scheme is “failing to keep pace with our industry’s needs”.
“Between December 2017 and March 2018 some 1,226 IT and tech sector professionals were turned down for visas, mostly because the number of people applying exceeded the monthly limit allowed to enter the UK,” she said, writing in the Daily Telegraph.
“The fact that we have more skilled people wanting to contribute to the UK economy is a good thing. The fact that we refuse them visas because of an outdated cap is not.”
Unemployment is at its lowest level since the mid-1970s, at 4.2pc, leaving companies struggling to find the workers they need to grow. They are also struggling to recruit from abroad, due to a combination of the visa system and faster economic growth in the EU which is persuading job seekers to try other parts of Europe.
The latest net migration figures show the number of people moving to the UK outstripped those leaving by 244,000 in the year ending September 2017 - down from a high of more than 300,000 in 2015 and 2016, but firmly above levels seen in 2012 and 2013.
The inclusion of students when counting towards the net migration target has long been controversial, as their residency is largely temporary. In addition it has been argued it is counter-productive to teach students in the UK, then encourage them to leave after graduation instead of using their new skills and knowledge to work in Britain.
Mr Javid suggested he agrees that students should be removed from the net migration target, and “empathises” with suggestions that their inclusion is “unwelcoming”.
“I empathise with that point, it is something I would like to look at again,” he told the Andrew Marr show on BBC One.
Visas for doctors are particularly politically sensitive, as accusations swirl that the NHS has missed out on much-needed staff because of the immigration system.
The Home Secretary said a “fresh look” is needed to make sure the country can get the doctors it needs.
Tier 2 General Visa
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