In an attempt to reduce migrant labour to the UK and give British people “the skills they need” to find jobs, Prime Minister Cameron has asked the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to look into ways of curbing non-EEA migrant labour.
The Migration Advisory Committee will advise on ways of boosting funding for UK apprenticeships and rising minimum salary thresholds for work visa applications as well as modifying the skills shortage criteria.
The government will require the MAC to look into re-structuring visa routes where skills shortages are genuinely required and ways of limiting the time that any sector is seen as being in shortage.
Mr Cameron’s government have suggested implementing a levy on Tier 2 visas. They argue that this could be used to fund apprenticeships, thus, helping British people.
If new proposals go ahead, there could also be restrictions on the automatic right to work of Tier 2 dependants and the Intra Company Transfer route could see the introduction of the Immigration Health Surcharge.
Prime Minister Cameron claims that “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”.