The UK government has implemented measures intended to yield the most significant reduction in net migration to date after witnessing record-high levels. Home Secretary James Cleverly revealed a five-point strategy to control immigration, addressing its significant elevation, which was deemed excessively high.
The adjustments encompass increasing the minimum salary requirement for skilled overseas workers from £26,200 to £38,700. Mr. Cleverly highlighted that around 300,000 eligible individuals who could have come to the UK last year would no longer be eligible in the future. Additionally, the minimum income for family visas has surged to £38,700. The migration plan comes in response to recent official figures, showing a record net migration of 745,000 in 2022.
Conservative MPs have pressed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his administration to reduce net migration, marking the variance between entries and exits from the UK. Despite the party’s pledges to diminish net migration since taking office in 2010 and to exert control over UK borders post-Brexit, the surge in immigration presents a substantial political challenge.
The forthcoming general election, anticipated in 2024, is poised to pivot around immigration as a central issue. With Labour leading in opinion polls, Mr. Sunak vowed to undertake necessary actions to lower net migration.
The government’s strategy involves altering salary prerequisites and imposing regulations on care workers’ family dependants. It also terminates the practice of companies paying workers below the standard rate for jobs on a shortage occupation list, along with increasing the NHS usage fee for foreign workers.
Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper views the announcement as an acknowledgment of Tory failure in both immigration policy and economic management. While recognizing the need for reduced net migration, she criticized the government’s lack of substantial reforms linking immigration to UK training and fair pay requirements.
Unison General Secretary Christina McAnea condemned the plans, anticipating adverse consequences for the NHS and social care. She emphasized that migrant workers were crucial to these sectors, essential due to their critical staff shortages.
While some Conservative MPs lauded the changes as significant and credible steps, others, like former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, expressed reservations, calling for further action on salary criteria and the graduate route. She criticized the delayed implementation of these measures, asserting their diminished impact.
The healthcare sector, heavily reliant on hiring workers from overseas, poses a challenge in reducing migration. In the year ending September 2023, 101,000 visas were granted to care workers, with an estimated 120,000 visas issued to their family dependants. The migration observatory director, Dr. Madeleine Sumption, highlighted the substantial impacts of increased family visa income thresholds, affecting lower-income British citizens, particularly women and younger individuals earning lower wages.
The adjustments in migration policy have triggered mixed reactions, portraying the multifaceted implications and challenges ahead in the government’s bid to regulate migration, especially in key sectors like healthcare and social care.