Conference. None of this seems like it should be policy for a government whose main stated priority is to reduce inflation and, therefore, inflationary costs for businesses. Yet, Jenrick appears keen to appease the more extreme fringes of the Conservative Party keen to cap immigration. “The SOL’s blunt tool, which just reduces salaries,
WHERE NEXT FOR UK IMMIGRATION POLICY? In a review of the MAC proposals, law firm Lewis Silkin suggested that if the government implemented the reduced scope of the SOL without abolishing the list entirely, sponsors would generally be expected to pay higher salaries and application fees to sponsor workers under eligible occupations. “If the list is abolished altogether, the current discount
on the general salary threshold for shortage occupations will be removed, meaning that unless a discounted salary option otherwise applies, sponsors will need to pay at least the going rate for the occupation, £10.75 per hour or £26,200, whichever is highest,” the firm added. There is uncertainty, however, over how the current
government will react to the MAC proposals, with some fearing ministers might use it as an excuse for a further crackdown on immigration. In a speech at the Conservative Party Conference this autumn, the-then Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who was sacked in November, said politicians had been “too squeamish” to act on immigration, which she described as “already too high”. She added that moving to a wealthier country had become a “realistic prospect” for “billions of people” and that a “hurricane” of migration was coming to the UK. Speaking at the same conference, the-then Immigration
Minister Robert Jenrick, who resigned in December over controversial plans to deport illegal immigrants to Rwanda, maintained that record-high net migration to the UK, which reached 745,000 in 2022, had soared because the nation had adopted an “even more liberal” immigration system since leaving the EU. Ben Maitland, senior associate at Vanessa Ganguin
Immigration Law, commented: “Many will now be very concerned by headlines about the MAC’s conclusions and what the government’s response will now be, especially with the noises coming from the Conservative Party
is never going to be a sustainable solution to stopping skills shortages for the MAC, who argue that lower pay attracts fewer local workers. Hopefully, the MAC and the government will remove other impediments to hiring shortage occupations from abroad – such as reducing the costs of visas and stopping the skills charge, which is in effect a tax on employers trying to fill a skills gap.” Much of industry is now nervously awaiting the
government’s response to the MAC, hoping the outcome will be the formulation of a comprehensive plan to tackle the continuing problems of labour shortages in the UK, rather than another political attempt to appease the right wing of the party with a far-reaching crackdown on immigration.
“ HOPEFULLY, THE MAC AND THE GOVERNMENT WILL REMOVE OTHER IMPEDIMENTS TO HIRING SHORTAGE OCCUPATIONS FROM ABROAD – SUCH AS REDUCING THE COSTS OF VISAS AND STOPPING THE SKILLS CHARGE, WHICH IS IN EFFECT A TAX ON EMPLOYERS TRYING TO FILL A SKILLS GAP.”
BEN MAITLAND, SENIOR ASSOCIATE, VANESSA GANGUIN LAW
67
GLOBAL MOBILITY
IMMIGRATION
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94
