Posted on November 17, 2022

Rishi Sunak Considers ‘Growth Visas’ to Bring In Skilled Workers

Charles Hymas and Daniel Martin, The Telegraph, November 10, 2022

A new “growth visa” to bring in skilled workers to plug shortages and boost the economy is being considered by Rishi Sunak.

A Downing Street source confirmed on Thursday that the new visa route – an idea devised by the Prime Minister’s predecessor Liz Truss – is “still being discussed” as a way to boost economic growth.

Mr Sunak has pledged to bring down net migration to fulfil a 2019 Tory manifesto pledge to do so but has also backed new visa schemes to attract more highly skilled migrants and entrepreneurs.

Earlier this year, as chancellor, he cited figures showing that nearly half of the UK’s science, technology and engineering researchers were immigrants and half of the most innovative companies were founded by an immigrant.

The “growth visa” emerged from a cross-Government project by Ms Truss aimed at ensuring Britain had sufficient skilled workers to deliver on infrastructure projects in rail, wind and nuclear energy, telecommunications, digital and roads.

The move could put him at odds with Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, who said at the Tory conference her long term ambition was to reduce net migration to the tens of thousands.

There are fears within the Home Office that figures, to be published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on November 24, could show net migration at a record high, sparking a backlash from voters who backed Brexit to take back control of the UK’s borders.

Migration experts said they would “not be surprised” if net migration passed the previous post-war high of 390,000 in 2015, which would represent a sharp increase from the last total of 239,000 for the year to June 2021.

Ms Braverman and Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, are understood to be working on measures to reduce net migration by reining in the number of dependents that students can bring to the UK and tightening rules for those staying after graduation.

They believe they can “square the circle” by using the existing points-based immigration scheme to increase skilled migration and plug shortages while cracking down on abuses of the system.

Mr Jenrick said last week that there were areas where fast track visas would “make sense,” citing previous examples such as those for health and social care which had brought in “tens of thousands of doctors and nurses” to help the NHS.

However, he said the Government also wanted to put pressure on companies to train up more domestic UK staff given that there were five million “economically inactive” people in the UK.

“The points-based system we have created has seen a quite big increase in the number of people coming into country,” said Mr Jenrick. “But our overall long term objective is to bring down immigration but to do it in a smart and intelligent way that brings in people that we need for public services but pushes business and industry to be genuinely more productive so we can raise wages in the country.”

Home Office figures in August revealed the number of visas for foreign nationals to live, study and work in the UK exceeded a million for the first time in a single year. The number of work visas issued to foreign nationals and their dependents hit more than 330,000 in the year to June 2022, up nearly 80 per cent.

Student numbers rose by 60 per cent in a year, from 256,000 to nearly 411,000. The number of dependents they brought in increased by an even larger 170 per cent from 29,700 to 81,100.

It is understood Home Office ministers are looking at restricting the right of undergraduates to bring in dependents, limiting it to graduates on masters or PHd courses as well as cracking down on those who remain in the UK on low-paid jobs after graduating.

Ms Braverman has floated proposals to restrict foreign students on “uneconomic” low-quality courses and crack down on those who do not complete their courses but remain in the UK.

The number of low-skilled agricultural workers are also expected to be capped at 30,000 or 40,000 despite calls from the industry for an increase to at least 60,000.

Lord Wolfson, chief executive of High Street chain Next and a Brexiteer, urged the Government to let more foreign workers into the UK to alleviate chronic labour shortages. He said firms should pay a tax to employ foreign workers, to encourage them to recruit from the UK first.

The Home Office has submitted evidence to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) on its ambition to bring down net migration following short-term rises, which the OBR will use to help forecast growth.

“Half those who come to the UK on visas go within two to three years and most are gone within four or five years,” said one Government adviser. “We are going to have high net migration until the figures settle down.”