The Home Office released further details on how it plans to reduce the number of migrant workers entering the UK and the role that the Migration Advisory Committee will play in this regard.
Yvette Cooper, the home secretary of the Labour Party, told the annual conference this week that the government will take a serious approach to immigration.
She said in her conference speech: “A serious Government knows that Immigration is important. That is why it must be managed and controlled properly so that the system is fair. Rules are respected and enforced properly, but we will never see another Windrush scandal, which let British Citizens down.
“In three months we have set up the Border Security Command and launched new investments in covert operations and high-tech investigations to go after gangs with proper enforcement.
We are strengthening our border security, instead of sending four volunteers to Rwanda and spending PS700,000,000 on employing 1,000 workers.
The Home Office announced that sectors most dependent on foreign workers would be targeted in order to “address the failure of these sectors to invest in UK skills”.
MAC is tasked to highlight those sectors that have seen a surge in overseas recruitment. It will also provide a yearly report for ministers.
The rules governing the sponsorship of foreign workers will be tightened so that employers who violate employment laws can face “strong actions” from the government, limiting their future ability to hire workers.
The UK Visas and Immigration can also suspend and revoke licenses when employers abuse the system.
Labour, after it won the election in July, briefly explained how it would tie migration policy to skills and trends on the labour market, working with organizations such as Skills England, to boost the domestic workforce.
MAC’s assessment of the skills shortages in industries will be used by employers to encourage them to train domestic workers rather than relying solely on overseas recruits.
Cooper commissioned MAC in August to examine the IT and engineering sector’s reliance on migrant labor. Other sectors will likely undergo similar reviews.
The Home Office stated that MAC would expand its role to include “work on assessing the root causes for why certain sectors are so reliant upon overseas workers” and that it would find “additional capacities” to fulfill this role.
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Skills England released its first report yesterday,’setting up the scene’ to the newly-formed government body as “the driving force”, behind the much needed upskilling the economy.
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