Strict migration target risks disrupting firms, warn Lords
BRITAIN is “in the dark” over immigration numbers because the current system for counting movement into and out of the UK is inadequate, a committee of Lords has warned.
Companies across the country are also unprepared for a sharp drop in immigration, meaning that the flagship policy to reduce net immigration to below 100,000 per year “runs the risk of causing considerable disruption”.
Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, chairman of the economic affairs committee, said: “The Government must have reliable statistics on migration before it formulates new policy, otherwise it will be making crucial decisions – of vital importance to the country’s businesses – in the dark.”
Peers noted that there is not even a single definition of what a migrant is, with official statistics varying between counting those born abroad, those with foreign nationality, and those who have changed their country of residence.
They propose that the Government uses data from sources including tax records to work out how many migrants are in the UK, the time for which they stay, the proportion who are in work, and the type of work they carry out.
The current system, which largely relies on surveys, is particularly inadequate in counting the number of foreign students who are in the UK and who stay on after graduating. Given companies in certain sectors – including agriculture, technology and hospitality – rely heavily on immigrants, the peers called on the Government to adopt a more flexible target than the 100,000 level, and to implement new policies slowly.
“The objective of having migration at sustainable levels is unlikely to be best achieved by the strict use of an annual numerical target for net migration,” their report said.
“Instead, such a target runs the risk of causing considerable disruption by failing to allow the UK to respond flexibly to labour market needs and economic conditions.
“A suitable implementation period is likely to be necessary before a new immigration system for the European Union comes fully into force to allow for the necessary training of the British workforce and investment in new technologies.
“This could take a number of years and needs to take into account the fact that each region of the country will have different training and investment needs.”
Students should also be removed from the limit on net immigration, the report advised.
The idea of implementing a different immigration system in London or Scotland might have some theoretical merits to suit local industries, the peers said, but “is beyond existing administrative capabilities”.
Meanwhile other policy goals could be imperilled by a tight and inflexible migration target, the peers said, noting that the construction sector may need migrant workers to have any chance of building 225,000-275,000 homes per year.
The 100,000 net migration target was initially proposed by David Cameron in the Conservative Party’s 2010 manifesto.