UK; Nurses to be first group affected by plan to reduce skilled migration
- By: Alan Travis | The Guardian
- Jun 10, 2015
- 3 min read
Measures to be brought into effect this autumn will reduce recruitment of overseas skilled workers on tier two visas from outside Europe.
Overseas nurse recruitment likely to be largest category affected by first measure of immigration measures by David Cameron’s government. Photograph: Jens Kalaene/DPA/Corbis
Overseas nurses recruited to work in Britain are likely to be one of the first groups affected by a new drive announced by David Cameron to reduce skilled migration from outside Europe, immigration experts have warned.
The move comes as part of a “new blueprint being drawn up” to reduce demand for migrant labour announced by Cameron in the House of Commons at prime minister’s question time on Wednesday.
He said the first measures, including raising the thresholds for the recruitment of overseas skilled workers from outside Europe, will be brought into effect from this autumn. Those in lower wage groups are likely to be affected the most, with overseas nurse recruitment forming one of the largest categories.
The prime minister told MPs that the renewed drive to reduce British business demand for skilled migrant labour was a crucial part of the government’s plan to cut net migration.
The latest figures showed that net migration to Britain increased to 318,000 in 2014 – an increase of 109,000 over the previous year. Much to the dismay of government ministers the figures showed that net migration from outside Europe is now rising – up 42,000 – almost as markedly as net migration from within the Europe – up 67,000.
Cameron disclosed that Theresa May, the home secretary, has asked the migration advisory committee to review the detailed options for reducing migration of skilled people to Britain from outside Europe including a detailed examination of how tier two of the points-based immigration system is working.
“In the past it has been too easy for businesses to recruit from overseas, undermining those who want to work hard and do the right thing,” said Cameron. “As part of our one-nation approach, pushed forward by my immigration taskforce, we have asked the migration advisory committee to advise on what more can be done to reduce levels of work migration from outside the EU.”
The latest set of migration figures published in May showed that migration for work from outside Europe rose by 24,000 to 68,000 in 2014, with nearly all coming on skilled work visas.
A formal cap on tier of 20,700 tier two visas being issued each year has been in place since April 2011 for those in shortage occupations but many more, especially Indian IT tech specialists and overseas finance staff, have entered through the separate intra-company transfer route which is running at more than 30,000 a year.
Downing Street said the options that the migration advisory committee had been asked to examine included:
Restricting work visas to genuine skills shortages and highly specialist experts;
Putting a time limit on how long a sector can claim to have a skills shortage;
A new skills levy on tier two visas to boost funding for UK apprenticeships;
Raising minimum salary thresholds that migrant workers have to be paid to stop businesses using foreign workers to undercut wages;
Tightening the intra-company transfer route, including applying the £200 a year health surcharge to those coming by this route.
The Oxford University-based Migration Observatory warned last month that increasing demand from British business for overseas skilled migrants could mean that the annual cap on tier two skilled visas could be reached for the first time. This will mean that some employers will be prevented from recruiting from overseas.
“Employers in industries that tend to pay lower wages will be affected sooner. Examples include nurses, currently one of the largest categories of tier two applicants coming from overseas,” said the Migration Observatory.
“In the year ending September 2014, the median salary of tier two (general) applicants who were nurses was £25,000, compared to £33,000 across all occupations. By contrast, median incomes were relatively high for programmers and software developers (£35,000) and medical practitioners (£51,000), who would therefore get priority in the allocation process,” they added.
Source: Theguardian.com
By: Alan Travis
