Madam Deputy Speaker, with your permission, I will make a statement on the government’s White Paper on Restoring Control over the Immigration System.
Five months ago, the figures were published that showed net migration had reached a record high of more than 900,000 under the last Conservative government – a figure that had quadrupled in the space of just four years.
It was the consequence of specific government choices made from 2020 onwards, including introducing what was effectively a free market experiment on immigration – encouraging employers to recruit from abroad, loosening controls in different areas but without any requirement to tackle skills and labour shortages here at home. Choices which undermined the immigration system and the economy too.
This government is making very different choices. We made clear at that time, just as we had set out in our manifesto, this government would restore order and control to the immigration system, bringing net migration substantially down but also boosting skills and training here at home.
The White Paper we are publishing today does exactly that and it is built on five core principles.
First, that net migration must come down so the system is properly managed and controlled.
Second, that the immigration system must be linked to skills and training here in the UK, so that no industry is allowed to rely solely on immigration to fill its skills shortages.
Third, that the system must be fair and effective, with clearer rules in areas like respect for family life, to prevent perverse outcomes that undermine public confidence.
Fourth, that the rules must be respected and enforced – including tackling illegal and irregular migration and deporting foreign criminals.
And finally, that the system must support integration and community cohesion, including new rules on the ability to speak English and the contribution that people can bring to the UK.
The United Kingdom is an interconnected and outward-looking nation. Our history and our geography mean that, for generations, British people have travelled overseas to live and work, and people have come to the UK to study, work, invest or seek refuge. And British citizens draw on heritage from all over the world and that has made us the country we are today.
Through many years our country has been strengthened by those who have come here to contribute – from the doctors in our NHS to the entrepreneurs founding some of our biggest businesses to those who came through generations to work in jobs from coal mining to caring for our loved ones to serving in our armed forces. People often coming to do some of the most difficult jobs of all.
Our trading nation, global leading universities and strong historic international connections mean that migration will always be part of our country’s future as well as our past.
But that is exactly why immigration needs to be properly controlled and managed. It hasn’t been.
Overseas recruitment shot up while training in the UK was cut.
Lower skilled migration soared while the proportion of UK residents in work plummeted.
In 2019 10% of skilled work visas went to non-graduate jobs; by 2024 that had risen to 60%.
Employers were even given a 20% wage discount if they recruited for shortage jobs from abroad – actively discouraging them from paying the going rate or training here at home.
Education institutions were allowed to substantially expand the number of overseas students without proper compliance checks.
Social care providers were encouraged to recruit from abroad with no proper regulation.
So we saw a serious increase in exploitation – deeply damaging for those who came to work here in good faith, and also for other workers and responsible companies who were being undercut.
The rules and laws that are supposed to the immigration system were too often ignored.
By 2024, returns of people with no right to be in the UK were down over a third compared to 2010.
And, of course, criminal gangs were allowed to build an entire smuggling industry along our borders, undermining security and creating a crisis in the asylum system.
Madam Deputy Speaker, later this year we will set out further reforms on asylum and border security, and on tackling illegal and irregular migration, building on the new counter-terrorism powers in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill before the House this evening, because no one should be making these dangerous crossings on small boats.
But this White Paper sets out how we restore that control to the legal migration system so it is sustainable, fair and works for the UK.
First, we are overhauling the approach to labour market policy so for the first time we properly link the immigration system to skills and training here in the UK.
So that where there are skills or labour shortages in the UK, immigration should not always be the answer to which employers turn. Because that long-term failure to tackle skills shortages, to bring in proper workforce planning, to get UK residents back into work, or to improve pay, terms and conditions here at home is bad for our economy as well as for the immigration system because it undermines our productivity and growth.
So we will lift the threshold for skilled worker visas back to graduate level and above, removing up to 180 different jobs from the list, increasing salary thresholds.
Access to the Points-Based System for lower skilled jobs will be limited to areas on a new Temporary Shortage List, including jobs which are critical to the Industrial Strategy, but access will be time limited. There must be a domestic workforce strategy in place, and employers must be acting to increase domestic recruitment.
We will expect workforce strategies to be drawn up more widely in other higher skilled areas too where there is overreliance on recruitment from abroad.
To support that work we will establish the new Labour Market Evidence Group, bringing together skills bodies from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Industrial Strategy Council and the Migration Advisory Committee to gather and share evidence on shortage occupations in different parts of the country and also to highlight the role that skills, training, pay and conditions and other policies can play in improving domestic recruitment, so that increased migration is never again the only answer to the shortages the economy faces.
This new approach means we also need to act on social care.
The introduction of the Social Care Visa led not only to a huge increase in migration but also to a shameful and deeply damaging increase in abuse and exploitation.
When proper checks were finally brought in, 470 care providers had their licence to sponsor international staff suspended. 39,000 care workers were displaced.
Overseas recruitment for care jobs has since dropped but it must not surge like that again. And it’s time we addressed domestic issues, including a proper Fair Pay Agreement to show respect to people who do some of the most important jobs in the country.
We are therefore ending overseas recruitment of care workers. It will continue to be possible to extend existing visas and to recruit displaced care workers and people already in the UK with working rights on other visas.
Alongside the new visa controls and workforce strategies, we will also increase the Immigration Skills Charge paid by employers who recruit from abroad by 32%. That money will be invested through the Spending Review in supporting skills and training here in the UK.
We will ensure that Britain continues to attract the brightest and best global talent, by enhancing visa routes for very high skilled individuals, top scientific and design talent, and people with the right experience to support growth in key strategic industries.
Madam Deputy Speaker, international students bring huge benefits to the UK – supporting our world-leading universities, bringing in top talent and investment.
But we will strengthen compliance requirements and checks to prevent visa misuse.
Currently, too many people on the Graduate Visa are not doing graduate jobs. So we will reduce the unrestricted period from two years to 18 months. Those who want to stay will need to get a graduate job on a skilled worker visa so that we can ensure they are contributing to the economy.
Just as our rules on work visas are based on the contribution we expect people to make when they come to our country, we will consult later this year on new earned settlement and citizenship rules that apply the same approach, extending the principles of the Points-Based System, doubling the standard qualifying period for settlement to ten years with provisions to qualify more swiftly that take account of the contribution people have made.
Because the ability to speak English is integral to the ability for everyone to contribute and integrate, we will introduce new, higher language requirements across a range of visa routes, for both main applicants and their dependants. So family, too, can work, integrate and contribute.
The system for family migration has become overly complex with policies increasingly developed around case law from court decisions rather than a coordinated framework set out by Parliament. So we will set out a new clearer framework, to be endorsed by Parliament, including clarifying how Article 8 rules should be interpreted and applied to prevent confusion or perverse conclusions.
We will review current community sponsorship schemes that support recognised refugees and will continue to take action against trafficking and modern slavery. And we will shortly appoint a new Windrush Commissioner to ensure that Windrush lessons continue to be learnt and the Home Office also makes sure its standards are upheld.
But the rules must be respected and enforced across the board. So we will also bring in stronger controls where there is evidence of visa misuse. We are also rolling out e-visas and digital ID, including better use of technology to monitor when people are overstaying on their visa, or to support the increase in illegal working raids. Since the election we have increased returns and we will go further.
Those who come to our country must abide by our laws.
So we will develop new procedures to ensure the Home Office is informed of all foreign nationals convicted of offences – not just those who go to prison – so we can also revoke visas and remove other offenders in a wide range of crimes who are abusing our system.
Madam Deputy Speaker, already we are reducing the number of visas being granted this year, and updated figures will be published before the end of the month.
Already we are increasing returns with over 24,000 people in the first 9 months, the highest 9-month period for eight years.
The impact of the changes to skilled worker visas, care worker visas, settlement, students and English language is expected to reduce visas by around 100,000 a year. In addition, the new workforce strategies, Immigration Skills Charge, family and asylum reforms will further bring numbers down on top of that. And as the Prime Minister has said, where we need to go further to restore a sustainable system, we will.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Madam Deputy Speaker, throughout our history, Britain has been strengthened by people coming to start new businesses, study at our universities, contribute to our cultural and sporting excellence, and do some of the toughest, most essential jobs in our country.
But to be successful, effective and fair, our immigration must be properly controlled and managed. This White Paper sets out how we will restore control, fairness and order to the system, how we will continue to bring net migration down, and how we will turn the page on the chaos and failure of the past. I commend this statement to the House.
