Political Monitor

Excerpt from Political Monitor for APSCO for the week 22/11/2010

What's being said in Westminster

Government Announces Annual Immigration Cap

There will be a new threshold of £40,000 per annum for Intra-Company Transfers, but they are excluded from the cap.

Home Secretary Theresa May MP this week announced changes to the immigration system that will come into effect from April 2011, including a new annual immigration cap, which excludes intra-company transfers.

The government has committed to:

• Introducing an annual limit of 21,700 for those coming into the UK under the skilled and highly skilled routes - 20,700 under the skilled route and 1,000 under the new "exceptional talent? route
• Raising to £40,000 the minimum salary for those coming through the intra-company transfer route for more than 12 months. Theresa May said that 50% of ICTs meet these criteria.
• Restricting the highly skilled tier of the PBS to all but entrepreneurs, investors and the exceptionally talented.
• Requiring occupations in Tier 2 to be at graduate level

Theresa May said: "Today?s announcement has set out a clear, rational approach to which workers we will allow into the UK job market. We have set out an approach which will not only get immigration down to sustainable levels but at the same time, protects those businesses and institutions which are vital to our economy."

The new rules will take effect from April 2011. The Migration Advisory Committee will review immigration arrangements on an annual basis.

The introduction of an annual limit was a coalition government pledge, but the details of it are understood to have become the subject of intense debate within Government, with Business Secretary Vince Cable MP having fought hard to secure the exclusion of ICTs from the limit.

The announcement comes further to the Migration Advisory Committee?s report last week, which recommended that Intra-Company Transfers should be made more selective in order to prevent jobs that could be given to skilled British workers being filled by workers from overseas.

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