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New measures to ensure that UK businesses can bring in the skills and people they need to compete in the global economy have been announced by the Home Secretary and Chancellor as part of the Pre-Budget Report.

The new measures build on the success of the Government's drive to modernise and increase the economic migration routes into the UK.

Home Secretary David Blunkett announced that:

nearly 5,000 extra foreign workers will be able to work on UK farms, doing a bigger range of farm work, under an expanded Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme (SAWS);
the UK's flagship Highly Skilled Migrant Programme - which in nine months has brought in nearly 1,000 of the world's best 'brains' - will be extended indefinitely following the end of its current pilot and entry criteria updated;
a new small business unit will be set up within Work Permits UK to ensure that all sizes and types of business have the information they need about work permits to help them recruit easily from abroad; and
the Government will continue to work with industry to identify areas with labour or skills shortages.
Mr Blunkett said:

“The UK is a key player in our global modern economy, where workers are increasingly mobile internationally. In this competitive world-wide environment, it is essential that we can attract the people and skills we need for our businesses to be able to compete successfully, and for our economy to flourish.

“The Government is opening up sensible, managed ways for people to come and work, making it easier for UK businesses to bring in the foreign workers and skills they need, while tackling abuse of the asylum system by illegal immigrants.

“Migrants have an enormous amount to offer our economy and our society. They help with recruitment difficulties and bring new innovations, enterprises and capital to the UK. If we can harness the vitality, skills and energy of migrants we can stimulate productivity, economic growth and job creation.

“Our message to would-be migrants is clear. We are opening up more opportunities for you to work here legally, but if you come here illegally and abuse our asylum system we will take action.

“Of course, managed migration is not an alternative to developing the skills and employment opportunities of our existing population but is an important complement to our ongoing work to achieve that.”

Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme:

The SAWS provides an essential source of seasonal labour for the farming industry and has been extremely successful in meeting farmers' and growers' short-term labour needs. Following a comprehensive review, the Government is expanding the scheme to build on that success and encourage more workers to participate in an bigger, more flexible scheme which will continue to meet the needs of our diverse agricultural industry in the twenty first century. The Government has decided to:

retain an annual quota system, to be determined annually based on projected demand;
increase the quota for 2003 from 20,200 to 25,000;
operate the scheme all year round, rather than just May-November as at present, to cover the demand for seasonal workers throughout the year - such as for bulb planting, daffodil picking and harvesting winter vegetables;
extend the work SAWS participants are allowed to do to include other agricultural activities not currently included, provided they are seasonal in nature, for example livestock work;
continue to restrict eligibility for the scheme to full-time students only, but to remove the upper age limit (it is currently limited to those aged 25 and under); and
allow workers to take part in the scheme more than the once currently allowed, provided they continue to meet the eligibility criteria and leave the country for at least three months between stints.
Food and Farming Minister, Lord Whitty, said:

“SAWS already provides an essential source of labour for the farming industry, but the changes to the scheme will help address concerns of farmers who have experienced problems finding short term labour outside the current season. More people will be available to fill farmers and growers labour needs in a wider range of sectors, whatever the season.

“The expanded, more flexible scheme will help meet the needs of our diverse agricultural industry.“

Highly Skilled Migrant Programme:

Under the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, particularly talented individuals can come to the UK to look for work. A one-year pilot scheme which started in January 2002 will now be made permanent. To date, 990 people have successfully applied under the scheme. To improve the scheme's effectiveness even further, the criteria for awarding points in certain categories will be revised, including updating the earnings category to better reflect income differences between countries.

Small business unit:

A new unit within Work Permits UK will help ensure that all sizes and types of business can recruit easily from abroad. Small and media sized businesses - which make up 95 per cent of the UK's 3.7 million businesses - make a huge contribution to the UK economy. They often feel, however, that overseas recruitment is more the domain of large businesses. There is no reason why that should be the case, and this new dedicated team will get across to smaller businesses that the UK's work permit system is accessible, efficient and available to them.

Industry-specific migration schemes:

Businesses need people with a range of skill levels, and migrants at the lower end of the skills spectrum also contribute to the economy, complement the skills of the domestic population and help to raise productivity. We have already announced two new temporary migration schemes within the hospitality and food processing industries. The Government will continue to work with industry to identify other sectors which would benefit from similar short-term schemes.

The Government has already greatly increased the ability of UK businesses to bring in the foreign workers they need, including:

streamlining the Work Permit system and hugely increasing the number of permits issued - this year we expect to process around 175,000 work permits, up from 45,000 in 1996;
consulting on bringing in more temporary foreign workers by expanding the Working Holidaymakers Scheme;
brought in the Innovators Scheme to encourage entrepreneurs to come here to set up businesses that will create jobs for the resident labour force; and
introduced measures to enable graduated foreign students, student nurses, postgraduate doctors and dentists, to switch into work permit employment without first going home.

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. The Home Office published a consultation paper on SAWS on 29 May 2002 (Home Office press notice 140/02). In addition, Home Office officials met with groups involved with the current scheme, visited a number of participating farms and consulted the universities in eastern Europe from which the scheme currently recruits participants. A full report on the findings of the review is available on the Home Office and Work Permits UK websites at www.homeoffice.gov.uk and www.workpermits.gov.uk.

2. Government consultation the Working Holidaymakers Scheme was also announced on 29 May 2002 (Home Office press notice 140/02).

3. SAWS dates from the immediate post-war years, as a way of bringing in short term labour to gather harvests, and its general principles remain the same - to provide short-term seasonal labour for the agricultural industry. The scheme operates under a quota system (the quota for 2002 is 18,700 and before this review had been set to rise to 20,200 in 2003). The season is defined from 1 May - 30 November . Participants are students (often agricultural students) in their home countries, aged 18-25. The majority of participants are from eastern Europe and the states of the former USSR.

4. The changes in the SAWS are due to take effect in full from January 2004 with some of the recommendations being implemented earlier provided they can be accommodated within the current arrangements.

5. The Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP) began on 28 January 2002 (Home Office press notice 327/01, 13 December 2001), an update on the numbers successfully applying was given in Home Office press notice 167/02. It differs from the work permit system in that it does not require an employer to obtain a permit for the individual. Applicants are assessed on a points system based on their qualifications, earning ability and experience.

6. The two new schemes to bring in temporary workers for the hotel/catering and food processing sectors were announced on 7 October 2002 (Home Office press notice 361/02).