Limits for Tiers 1 and 2 of Points Based system published

The total number of out-of-country Tiers 1 and 2 visas issued next year will be between 37,400 and 43,700. This compares with 50,000 for 2009 and equates to a reduction in visas issued across the two tiers of between 13 and 25% (6,300 and 12,600 visas). The Home Secretary has stated that the MAC will advise on limits for future years in due course.

The Chair of the Migration Advisory Committee, David Metcalf, said:

"It is not possible to reduce net migration to the tens of thousand by limiting work-related migration alone. The Committee assumes that work-related migration takes 20% of the total cut – its fair share – which implies that family and student migration must take the other 80%."

In addition, the MAC has made a number of policy suggestions to the Government to underpin the required limits. These include:

• Favouring Tier 2 over Tier 1 to reduce the impact of the limits on business; 
• Improving selectivity of Tiers 1 and 2 including raising the points thresholds for earnings and qualifications; and 
• Reviewing whether explicit economic criteria should be applied to decisions on settlement in the UK.

Its report concludes that reducing the number of migrants coming through these routes would be best achieved by making them more selective, and that action should be taken to give UK workers the skills to ensure that businesses can still recruit the people they need.

Dr John Philpott, Chief Economic Adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), commented on the news:

"The MAC is to be congratulated for producing a rational evidence-based report on how a cap on migrant workers from outside the EU might contribute to meeting the Coalition Government's policy objective of reducing net migration to tens of thousands.

“The MAC rightly concludes that limits on work-related migration can realistically only play a relatively small role in curbing net migration. But the MAC is also right to conclude that visas issued to skilled and highly skilled migrants should be reduced by up to 25%. Although this will not be welcomed by some employers, the limits the MAC proposes to ministers show that a more selective approach to controlling skilled migration within the Points Based System will both enable most organisations to meet their skills needs and support the broader policy drive to improve the skills of the home grown workforce."