Home Secretary's commissioning letter to review the composition of the shortage occupation list, to the Chair of the MAC (accessible version)
Published 11 October 2018
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Professor Alan Manning
Chair, Migration Advisory Committee
2nd Floor Peel Building
2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF
14 June 2018
Dear Alan
Commission to review the composition of the shortage occupation list
I am writing to commission the Migration Advisory Committee to examine the full composition of the shortage occupation list (SOL) at Appendix K of the Immigration Rules, to determine which high skilled roles it would be sensible to fill through non-EEA migration under Tier 2 of the Points Based System.
I am conscious that a full review of the SOL has not been completed since 2013 and I am committed to ensuring that the immigration system reflects, so far as is possible, the latest evidence and trends impacting on the domestic labour market. Under the existing system, the SOL confers advantages for UK employers by exempting them from the need to advertise the job to the resident labour market and ensures that when the Tier 2 (General) cap of 20,700 has been hit, priority is given to these applications above other occupations.
As the Committee will be aware, the Tier 2 (General) cap has recently been hit and has continued to be under pressure in every month since December 2017, resulting in a number of occupations being refused places. This has also impacted on doctors working in critical roles in the NHS – and other highly skilled professionals across other parts of the economy. The recent demand for Tier 2 places appears to have been driven, in part, by increased recruitment for overseas health professionals.
In view of the risks associated with doctors not being able to fill necessary posts within the NHS and in view of the current pressures, I have exceptionally agreed – on a temporary basis – to exempt all doctors and all nurses from the Tier 2 cap, but a review of the full SOL will enable the Committee to assess which occupations should be given priority within the cap. I intend to keep this change under review.
I appreciate that the Committee has been operating at full capacity with two significant commissions on EU migration and on international students and ask that the Committee commence this review of the SOL after the completion of those commissions, both of which are due to report September. I am grateful to the Committee, in advance, for looking at this important issue.
Given the MAC’s existing workload, I should be grateful if the Committee could report on this new commission by spring 2019.
Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP