Worthy News: Immigration cap 'might not work'

Wednesday 3 November 2010

Immigration cap 'might not work'

Net migration to the UK stood at 196,000 last year

The government will struggle to achieve its aim of limiting net migration to the UK to "tens of thousands" in five years, MPs have said.

Ministers intend to impose a long-term cap on workers from outside the European Economic Area from next year.

But the Commons home affairs committee said this would only affect 1% to 20% of the total number of immigrants.

The government says the cap will allow the UK to benefit from migration, by exercising more control over it.

Net migration - the difference between the number of people coming to live in the UK and the number emigrating - stood at 196,000 last year.

The coalition government has promised to halve this by 2015, partly by capping the number of skilled workers from outside the European Economic Area.

The Home Office introduced a limit for work visas for non-EU citizens in June. A key part of the Conservative election manifesto, this temporary cap of 24,100 will be replaced by permanent measures from April 2011.

But the committee said a cap would "make little difference to immigration overall" unless it was set at virtually zero.

“The cap is the worst of both worlds - it doesn't control immigration but it does damage our economy and universities”

Phil Woolas Labour

Its report added that there was a risk that a permanent cap could "hamper businesses, prevent top-class international professionals from coming to the UK and damage the UK's ability to recruit the most distinguished scientists into universities and highly talented individuals into UK companies and public services".

Labour MP Keith Vaz, the committee's chairman, said: "Successive governments have enacted changes to the immigration system with almost immediate effect, bypassing parliamentary conventions.

"Such unnecessary haste leads to poor decision-making which is more likely to be challenged in the courts.

"The government must ensure that Parliament be given the opportunity fully to scrutinise all significant changes to the immigration system before they are introduced."

For Labour, shadow immigration minister Phil Woolas said the report showed the cap was "a pre-election gimmick to con the voters into thinking it would control immigration".

He added: "The cap is the worst of both worlds - it doesn't control immigration but it does damage our economy and universities.

"The coalition is divided over the policy and this report shows that the policy doesn't work, so ministers should go back to the drawing board."

David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: "New restrictions on immigration must not undermine the ability of UK businesses to recruit the best and the brightest, which allows UK plc to compete internationally.

"The government needs to think again - and create a balanced migration policy that limits the number of low-skilled migrants, while allowing us to entice top global talent to the UK."

Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of Universities UK, which represents the views of vice-chancellors, said: "As the committee has indicated, the government's policy objective of reducing net migration to 'the tens of thousands' by the end of the current parliament will cause major problems for UK businesses and universities.

"World-class research requires world-class people, and we simply can't adopt a 'Fortress Britain' attitude."

The government says the cap will enable the UK to control levels of immigration, ensuring a supply of highly skilled people, while reducing the burden on public services.

This article is from the BBC News website. � British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.