Curbs on immigrants pose ‘risks to business’, say MPs

Home Office policies that aim to reduce net migration by restricting the entry of skilled workers bring “significant risks to UK businesses”, a cross-party panel of MPs has warned.

According to the all-party parliamentary group on migration, the government’s moves to restrict labour migration from outside the European Union could damage companies at a time of increasing global competition for skills.

The panel - chaired by Jack Dromey, a Labour MP, with Lord Roberts of Llandudno, a Liberal Democrat peer, Stewart Jackson, a Conservative MP, and Jon Cruddas, a Labour MP, as its vice-chairs - delivered its warning in a briefing paper due to be published today. It was responding to Home Office reforms that introduced a limit of 21,700 work visas for non-EU immigrants for 2011-12, starting from April 6 this year.

The visa cap forms part of government efforts to drive down net migration to the “tens of thousands” by the end of the parliament, in line with a Conservative election pledge. Companies are not given individual quotas but have to compete for visas from the total allocation - although in a concession to business concerns, intercompany transfers are not included.

“The business community has been subject to a major and rapid change within the system,” Mr Dromey told the Financial Times.

Citing research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and KPMG, the professional services firm, showing that more than 20 per cent of private sector employers had reported recruitment difficulties as a result of the temporary cap trialled

... contd.