Employment, skills and training

Information about the points-based system, EU accession nationals, and refugees - including ESOL, agriculture, construction and social care.

Views expressed in the documents below are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of North West RSMP.

Review of the minimum income requirement for sponsorship under the family migration route

Migration Advisory Committee, 2011

The following is taken from the Chairman's Foreword:

"The MAC recognises that family migration regulations are not determined by economic factors alone. But it is an economic issue – required family income – that we have been asked to address. On this basis, the present income stipulation is too low. The MAC suggests, instead, a minimum gross income figure to support a two-adult family of between £18,600 and £25,700. We estimate that nearly two thirds of sponsors would not have sufficient gross income to meet the higher of these thresholds. But our analysis suggests that, based on only economic criteria, there is a case for such a benchmark."

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Guest workers: Settlement, temporary economic migration and a critique of the government's plans

M Cavanagh, IPPR, 2011

This report sets out four questions relating to the government's plans to reduce settlement levels of non-EU economic migrants, and makes a series of recommendations based on the assumption that the proposals will be implemented in their current form. It also suggests a framework for managing temporary migration, focusing less on compulsory removal than on reinforcing the trend towards temporary migration that is already underway.

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Experiences of forced labour among Chinese migrant workers

C Kagan, S Lo, L Mok, R Lawthom, S Sham, M Greenwood and S Baines, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2011

This report outlines patterns of migration for work from China to the UK; explores the complex relationship between migration, work and family; reveals the range of exploitation (from decent work to forced labour) to describe the working conditions and patterns of employment of Chinese migrant workers in the UK; considers what makes low-skilled migrant workers from China vulnerable to forced labour; and identifies what actions could be taken by government, civil society organisations, trade unions and employers.

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Review of the transitional restrictions on access of Bulgarian and Romanian nationals to the UK labour market

Migration Advisory Committee, 2011

 This report examines potential consequences of either maintaining or lifting employment restrictions on Bulgarian and Romanian nationals. The report concludes that lifting the restrictions could see more Bulgarian and Romanians come to the UK for work, and that there is a risk this would have an adverse impact on the UK labour market and UK employment.

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Analysis of the points based system: Settlement rights of migrants in tier 1 and tier 2

Migration Advisory Committee, 2011

 In this report, MAC makes the following recommendations:

  • A pay threshold should be used to decide eligibility for automatic settlement among Tier 2 (general) migrants.
  • Migrants entering through the Tier 1 (exceptional talent) route should proceed to settlement after 5 years subject to continuing to meet the criteria for that route.
  • A pay threshold between £31,000 and £49,000 for Tier 2 (general), set at the time of entry and adjusted for inflation or changes to average pay, would be economically defensible.
  • Sportspeople should also be subject to the same pay criteria as other migrants under Tier 2 (general).
  • Government and businesses should work together to upskill the UK labour market to mitigate the impact of restricting settlement rights.

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Forced labour and UK immigration policy: Status matters?

P Dwyer, H Lewis, L Scullion and L Waite, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2011

This report investigates the links between immigration status and migrants' vulnerability to forced labour; explores how socio-legal status (specific rights to residence, work and social welfare) impacts on migrants' risk of forced labour; and reviews UK immigration policy, to assess how far it may reduce or facilitate the use of forced labour.

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Skilled shortage sensible: Full review of the recommended shortage occupations lists for the UK and Scotland

Migration Advisory Committee, 2011

In this report, MAC recommends that the Shortage Occupation List should be revised to restrict migrants from outside the European Economic Area to a smaller proportion of occupations within the UK labour market. This would have the effect of reducing the number of jobs open to Tier 2 migrants from 260,000 to 190,000.

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International migration and rural economies

Communities and Local Government, 2011

Given the changes to migration patterns in the UK over recent years, Communities and Local Government (CLG) commissioned Experian to identify those rural local areas recording a high number of migrant workers, and estimate their economic contribution to the rural economy. The main conclusions are as follows.

  • International migrants play an important role in some local rural economies.
  • Gross inflows of migrants, particularly 'new' migrants to rural areas, as captured by Workers Registration Scheme data, have declined by over 20 per cent between 2008 and 2009.
  • Should levels of migration to rural areas continue to decline the agriculture sector and parts of the UK where the labour market remains tight are likely to be most affected.

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Migrant remittances to and from the UK

Migration Observatory, 2011

Key points as stated in this briefing are as follows:
  • There is considerable uncertainty about the value of remittances to and from the UK. Since the end of foreign exchange controls in 1979, there is no official mechanism for recording remittances.
  • The UK is a major receiver as well as sender of remittances. World Bank data suggest that since the mid-1990s the UK has been a net-remittance receiver, i.e. remittance inflows have exceeded outflows.
  • Estimated remittances from the UK in 2009 reached close to GBP 2.35 billion, almost twice the total amount sent a decade earlier.
  • The UK accounted for around 7% of annual remittances to Bangladesh in 2010 (about GBP 533 million) and about 10% of annual remittances to Pakistan during that year (about GBP 627 million).
  • The cost of remitting from the UK varies per destination country and transfer method. The major MTOs (e.g. Western Union, MoneyGram) typically charge from 9 to 12% of the total amount remitted.
  • There is little information on the characteristics of remitters in the UK, including characteristics such as income levels and welfare programme participation. Some studies suggest that there are ethnic differences in remittance behaviour in the UK.

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Student visas: Follow-up

House of Commons Home Affairs Committee, 2011

This report highlights the Committee's concerns over what it views as the lack of an evidence-based approach to student visas policy. It also contains as an appendix a letter from the Minister for Immigration outlining the government's response to Committee's recent Student Visas report (Seventh Report of Session 2010-11).

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