Let’s talk policy changes: Chatham House Roundtable

Earlier this summer, I was honoured to have been asked to attend a Migration Roundtable hosted by Chatham House in collaboration with Imperial College London.

The UK has over the past several years introduced a series of measures to restrict recruitment of overseas workers to reduce net migration. This approach looks set to continue under the new Labour Government who have committed to reviewing legal skilled migration rules over the next few months.

To maintain a competitive advantage in tech, AI, STEM and computing, the roundtable discussion looked at several key ideas around visas costs, the role of higher education, skills, and training as well as Government processes more broadly.

Visa Challenges
 

Research shows that the application costs for the Global Talent Visa (GTV) are 17 times higher than the average for comparable countries and, in many cases, other countries, such as Germany, are reducing application costs, while the UK is trending in the other direction.

In a similar vein, switching from the Graduate to Skilled Worker visa corresponds to very high cumulative costs for businesses and employers. The concern for business is Government’s assumption that demand will remain the same regardless of consistent increases in visa fees. Yet with skilled migration very much a necessity, should costs become too prohibitive, this is likely to place strain on the UK labour market that the Government may be unprepared for.

There are broadly three key areas to look at when attempting to review and reform legal skilled migration policy. Firstly, improving policy stability on skilled migration to reduce uncertainty and make it easier for employers and workers to plan. Secondly, minimise complexity through fewer visa routes; and finally increasing flexibility by offering a personalised employment pass that allows workers to not be tied to specific employers.
 

Global Talent
 

Undoubtedly, GTV has significant potential to facilitate high-skilled migration to the UK. The benefits include there not being a sponsorship requirement, that it remains cheaper compared to other routes into the UK, it has a fast track to settlement and allows movement in and out of the country. However, it could be further improved by simplifying and rationalising the process: currently there are four overlapping routes for endorsement, as well as a high bureaucratic burden on endorsing bodies – simplification could make the scheme more efficient and easier to navigate for workers.
 

Upskilling and Domestic Recruitment
 

There is a clear need for increased investment by government into training and upskilling the domestic workforce. However, this requires much greater linkage between primary and higher education, government, and skills bodies in identifying where skills gaps exist and how education can be shaped to fill these. Our advice to UK business has been to consider where skills gaps exist, and what steps are required to fill these. Nevertheless, skilled migration continues to have an immeasurable impact in terms of the global circulation of talent to stimulate knowledge-exchange and skills transfer.

The new Government’s approach has been to link together the Home Office with other key departments leading on business, growth and skills is an important first step in developing and reviewing skilled migration policy for the future. Beyond the roundtable, Deloitte has put together some key next steps, and helpful links for employers and businesses.

In the immediate term, the Home Secretary has commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to review the income requirement for family route ahead of possible future increases and secondly, on skills shortages in the IT and Engineering (civil/mechanical) sector. They have also been commissioned to look at broader questions around the immigration salary list and other migration levers. Deloitte will of course feed into this commission once it is published, and we encourage UK business and employers to do the same.

To ensure preparedness, employers should continue to familiarise themselves with the current rules and to do this Deloitte has produced an in-depth report, ‘A new Labour government: what it means for global employers’ which provides expert analysis on the proposed changes, the opportunities ahead and the priorities for businesses as government commitments are turned into policy and legislation.

Alongside the above report, I also presented at a panel event hosted by the Whitehall Industry Group on net migration reductions and the impact on the UK’s skills shortage. A link to the recording of the event is available here. Please do go ahead and listen as I discuss the issues outlined in this article in more depth alongside experts from differing sectors!