The immigration cap still fits
Despite the Government’s pre-Christmas setback in the High Court, where it was held that the temporary cap on non-EU migrants was unlawful on procedural grounds, the permanent cap to be imposed in an Act of Parliament in April is back on the cards.
Since the Government lost on a technicality – the temporary cap was introduced without parliamentary scrutiny – the measure was reintroduced within a week of the ruling, and is now back up and running.
Despite the concession on so-called intra-company transfers (i.e. secondments to the UK within a multi-national group of companies), businesses are still concerned that they will be unable to hire the foreign workers that they may need. This concession applies to both the temporary and permanent caps.
Since workers from the EU are exempt, as are genuine asylum seekers, the cap falls on workers from outside the EU, many of whom – research scientists and medical professionals, to name but two categories – are badly needed by the health service and cutting-edge businesses.
Many leading businesses, organisations (like the Confederation of British Industry) and immigration lawyers warned that the cap could leave British businesses at a significant competitive disadvantage. To allay these concerns, the Home Secretary announced in November that intra-company transfers would be largely exempt provided the job to which they were coming paid more than £40,000 a year – as opposed to the current £24,000 annual minimum, which will continue to apply for transfers of less than 12 months. Precisely what the new rules will be like, and where the axe will fall, is still far from certain.
Faced with the new lower levels of permitted non-EU workers, employers may have to fill the gap by recruiting on a short-term contract people who may not be the most appropriate appointee. However, there is always a silver lining.
For umbrella contractors (freelancers working through a so-called umbrella company, which employs them and concludes contracts on their behalf with employers, while taking care of all their tax and paperwork) and other highly skilled UK freelancers, the cap may present new work opportunities. They could find themselves in demand for short-term contracts where their particular skills fit the bill.