Migration Advisory Committee to review key sectors to assess reliance on international recruitment

On 6 August 2024, the Home Secretary asked the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to review the IT and engineering sectors to understand their perceived over reliance on international recruitment. In the government’s view, the current high levels of net migration to the UK suggest weaknesses in the labour market, including persistent skills shortages in key areas.

The review will form part of the government’s new approach of linking immigration with skills policy, which will include close cooperation between the MAC, the newly formed Skills England, which will be responsible for identifying gaps across the labour market, and the Industrial Strategy Council whose remit includes developing a more structured and evidence-based approach to the labour market.

The IT and engineering sectors have long been recognised as experiencing chronic skills shortages, as reflected by the inclusion of various IT and engineering roles on the now defunct Shortage Occupation List (SOL) from December 2020 until April 2024. When sponsoring migrant workers for roles on the SOL, employers benefitted from a 20% discount on the “going rate”, but this was abolished by the previous government in April 2024, a change which the new government has confirmed it will maintain .

As part of the review, the Home Secretary wants the MAC to assess:

• the types of role in shortage;
• the causes of shortages, including training, pay and conditions;
• whether the SOL had any impact; and
• whether there are any other “policy levers” the government could use to remedy the situation.

There is also scope for the MAC to consider a wide range of other options, including a differentiated approach based on regions of the UK, something many immigration lawyers have lobbied successive governments for in recent years.

The Home Secretary has given the MAC a deadline of nine months to produce its report.