Speeches and Statements
International Bar Association’s Global Immigration Conference
Previous Immigration minister Andy Burnham's speech addressing the Global Immigration Conference in November 2005.
I’m very pleased to address today’s Global Immigration Conference. This is an important opportunity to outline the UK Government’s position on managed migration to key practioners and experts on immigration law, an opportunity for me to listen to your views, as well as a chance to hear how other countries tackle similar challenges.
Migration is important to the UK. It supports the Government’s economic growth and productivity objectives and we have the figures to prove it. Over 160,000 work permits were issued or renewed last year; a recent British Council study, put the global value of international students’ contributions to the UK in fees and other spending at £6.3 billion; and a recent study by the IPPR found that in 03/04, migrants accounted for 10% of government tax receipts yet only 9.1% of government spending.
Immigration has also been a hot political topic in the UK. It was the most important issue in many areas of the country at the recent General Election. It’s obviously the job of Government to address concerns and build public confidence in our migration system. But it’s not just the job of Government. We need all of our key stakeholders to promote the benefits of migration and to help us maintain a robust system.
That other organisations are getting involved in the migration debate is demonstrated, for example, by the Joint Statement on Managed Migration recently published by the Home Office, TUC and CBI. The Joint Statement sets out how all three organisations can ensure that the contribution made by migrant workers is both recognised and enhanced to the full. The statement says, for example, that the CBI will ‘promote the case for legal and managed migration’ – we need endorsements like this to help us to promote public confidence in a managed migration system.
The Government published a five-year strategy for asylum and immigration in February. The strategy takes account of some of the major programmes on which the Home Office is embarking: the role for ID cards in helping employers ensure that they employ legal migrants - who remain legal; the roll-out of the e-Borders programme, which, by 2008, will begin to deliver a modernised border control that is more effective, efficient and secure to meet the future operational needs of UK border-, law-enforcement and intelligence agencies; and the incorporation of biometrics into the entry clearance process which means that by 2008 all entry clearance applicants across the world will be fingerprinted when they apply for their entry clearance, enabling us to check and verify their identity.
These programmes all support our aim of delivering a robust migration system in which the public can have confidence. Our guiding principle is fairness and balance. We want to welcome legal migrants and encourage the integration of those who settle here while vigorously tacking abuse. At the same time we want to ensure that refugees in the direst need are able to seek the protection of the UK. Many of you will know that we launched the Gateway Protection Programme in 2002. Working with UNHCR, we have provided places in the UK to 202 refugees from conflict zones in West Africa to Burmese refugees in Thailand and are shortly due to bring in around 80 more from the Sudan.
We plan to increase the number of those given refuge over the coming years as part of our immigration strategy. I would like to encourage Local Authorities throughout the United Kingdom to participate in this programme, which is funded for the first year by the Home Office, to help the UK contribute to the global resettlement effort.
The five-year plan also outlined our proposals for a new points-based system for migrants who want to come to the UK to work or study. More detailed proposals on the points-based system were set out in July in our consultation document: Selective Admission: Making Migration work for Britain.
Why do we need to improve the UK’s managed migration system? The current one has built up over time and is complex. There are around 70 separate work or study routes and we cannot be sure that these routes capture the full benefits of migration. Nor is the system as flexible as it could be.
The future of the UK’s managed migration system is about targeting the migrants who will most contribute to economic growth and output. We want the UK to remain competitive in the global marketplace and be one of the most attractive locations for highly skilled and skilled migrants to come to work and live.
We propose a five-tier framework which covers all entry routes to the UK for work, training or study purposes. Tier 1 will be for highly skilled individuals and investors; Tier 2 for skilled workers with a job offer which meets certain requirements, which could include a minimum salary, passing a resident labour market test or be in a shortage occupation; Tier 3 will be for specific low-skilled schemes; 4 for students and 5 for visiting workers and youth mobility / cultural exchange schemes.
The new system will be supported by an IT platform which will be a one-stop shop for migrants. We want decision-making to be based on objective factors so that applicants can determine in advance whether they are eligible to apply and are clear on the evidence they need to support their application.
We propose replacing the current two-stage application process, in which immigration issues are assessed by visa-issuing posts abroad and employment qualifications are assessed in the UK, with a single, robust pre-entry or in-country check; ending the situation in which someone is granted a work permit but fails to get entry clearance – an unnecessary delay to employers getting the workers they need.
Those who benefit from migration will play a part in helping ensure that the system is not abused. For example, employers who wish to access migrant labour will have to be on an approved list. This will not be an onerous, bureaucratic procedure but it will allow us to have an up-to-date customer database and build a picture of who is using the migration system and how they do that, which we’ll use to target immigration abusers.
The consultation on the points-based system closed on Monday so I am not yet in a position to tell you what the overall response has been. I can say, though, that I want to create a system which meets the needs of all who use it. We will publish a formal response to the consultation process, taking account of responses, next year.
The new points based system is only one part of the five-year strategy. The Asylum and Nationality Bill currently going through Parliament, for example, tackles illegal working by introducing a new civil penalty for employers of illegal migrant workers; plus a new offence of ‘knowingly’ employing an illegal worker with a penalty of up to two years’ imprisonment.
Reforming the immigration system is important, for applicants, for employers and for the UK. I would like to thank all of you who have contributed to the consultation process, and I look forward to hearing views today. I hope we can continue to work with you in future to ensure that the new migration system meets the needs of the UK as well as those who use it.
