Corporate report

Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) annual governance report, 2021 (accessible version)

Published 15 December 2021

Foreword

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) is a non-statutory, non-time limited, advisory non-departmental public body (NDPB) funded by the Home Office. Established in 2007, the Committee is currently made up of 5 members, including a Chair, with 2 members leaving and their replacements joining in early 2021.

To support transparency, the MAC is required to produce an annual declaration of financial accounts and these form an integral part of this governance report. A summary list of the stakeholder engagements that the Members of the Committee, along with the Secretariat, have attended in the year is also provided.

This Governance Report sits alongside and separate to the more analytically focused Annual Report. This is the second Annual Report published as part of the wider remit of the MAC that was established in the 2018 Immigration White Paper and as laid out in the current framework document.

The framework document lays out our terms of reference, governance arrangements along with the responsibilities of the Home Office and the MAC Chair, Members and Secretariat. Finally, the working arrangements of the MAC and how it goes about its business are detailed in the framework document.

As an NDPB, there is a Cabinet Office requirement that the MAC be subject to an independent tailored review at least once in the lifetime of a Parliament. Such a review provides the opportunity for assurance and challenge of good governance and efficiency of public bodies. This review for the MAC was completed in September 2019, and the Committee and Secretariat engaged actively with the review process. We thoroughly support this review into our work, as we think it is vital for the confidence of the public and Parliament that we are subject to appropriate scrutiny. It is disappointing to note that, despite the MAC highlighting our concern, over 2 years from its completion the review has yet to be published by the Government. The Nolan Principles of Public life highlight a commitment to accountability and openness, and we continue to urge the government to publish the review without further delay.

MAC Committee

Chair

Professor Brian Bell

Brian Bell is a Professor of Economics at King’s Business School, a faculty of King’s College London. He joined KCL in 2017, following 4 years as an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at Oxford University and a Tutorial Fellow at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. He is a Research Associate at the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics. Professor Bell is a leading labour economist who is widely published, and his work on immigration has included papers examining the progress of immigrants in the labour market in the UK, and the impact of immigration on crime in the UK. He has also worked extensively outside academia, including at the Bank of England, the International Monetary Fund, and in a number of financial companies in the UK.

Professor Bell has previously served as a member of the Police and National Crime Agency Remuneration Review Bodies.

Appointed: February 2018 to February 2021

Appointed Chair: July 2020 to June 2023

Members

Madeleine Sumption MBE

Madeleine Sumption is the Director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, which provides impartial analysis of migration in the UK for public and policy audiences. Her research focuses on labour migration and the economic and social impacts of migration policies.

Before joining Oxford, Madeleine was Director of Research for the international program at the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), in Washington, DC. She is currently chair of the Migration Statistics User Forum, which brings together producers and users of migration data in the UK. In 2017, she received an MBE for services to social science.

Appointed: July 2016 to July 2019

Reappointed: July 2019 to July 2022

Reappointed: July 2022 to July 2025

Professor Jo Swaffield

A Professor of Economics and Head of Department at the University of York, Professor Swaffield is an applied micro labour economist with strong research expertise in the UK labour market and a track record of providing quality research evidence to government. Her main research fields are in labour economics and applied micro-econometrics, focusing on issues such as the gender wage gap, low wages including minimum wages and the living wage, and employment, particularly in terms of working hours.

Professor Swaffield’s research has been published in leading economics journals and gained external funding from prestigious funders. She has delivered a number of commissioned research reports that have formed part of the evidence base for the Low Pay Commission’s recommendations on the UK’s National Minimum Wage.

Appointed: February 2018 to February 2021

Reappointed: February 2021 to February 2024

Professor Sergi Pardos-Prado

Sergi Pardos-Prado is Professor of Comparative Politics and Research Director of the Politics and International Relations department at the University of Glasgow. He was previously Associate Professor in Politics at Merton College, University of Oxford, and Postdoctoral Prize Research Fellow at Nuffield College Oxford. He received his PhD in Political and Social Sciences from the European University Institute in Florence.

Professor Pardos-Prado’s research expertise lies at the intersection between comparative politics, comparative political economy, and political behaviour. His work focuses on how labour market structures, welfare state designs, and immigration policy regimes affect migrant integration and inter-ethnic conflict. Professor Pardos-Prado’s research has been published in leading political science journals and gained external funding from prestigious funders.

Appointed: May 2021 to April 2024

Professor Dina Kiwan

A Professor of Comparative Education at the University of Birmingham, Professor Kiwan has an interdisciplinary background in psychology, sociology and education. Her broad research programme focuses on citizenship, inclusion and is interdisciplinary and comparative in scope. Her interests centre around sociological and politico-philosophical examinations of inclusive citizenship through the lens of education policy, naturalisation policy and migration policy, in particular in the context of pluralist / multicultural societies, and also societies in conflict.

Professor Kiwan has extensive and long-standing experience and networks in the UK and internationally, in the field of citizenship and currently leads the GCRF Network Plus Disability Under Siege programme (2020-2024) working with partners in Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine to address the challenge that most children with disabilities never go to school. Her policy and consulting experience includes co-authoring the UNESCO curriculum framework for global citizenship education (2015), co-authoring the Diversity and Citizenship review for UK government’s Department of Education (2007), and appointment by the Home Secretary to the Home Office ‘Life in the UK’ Advisory Group (2002).

Appointed: May 2021 to April 2024

Members who left the MAC this year

Dr Jennifer C Smith

Dr Jennifer C Smith is Associate Professor in the Economics Department at Warwick University and Research Associate at the Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE). Her research focuses on UK labour market dynamics. Her research on wage rigidity, unemployment dynamics, pay comparisons and job satisfaction has been published in leading economics journals. Jennifer has previously acted as Academic Consultant to the Bank of England on wage rigidity. Before moving to Warwick University, Jennifer worked for 5 years as a Bank of England economist, having previously lectured at Queen’s University, Canada, and studied at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

Appointed: November 2012 to November 2015

Reappointed: December 2015 to November 2018

Reappointed: November 2018 to November 2020, this term was subsequently extended to February 2021

Professor Jackline Wahba OBE

Jackline Wahba is Professor of Economics at the University of Southampton. She has vast experience of academic-related work on international migration and labour market issues. She leads the migration research in the ESRC Centre for Population Change at the University of Southampton. Her main areas of research are in applied labour economics and international migration. Her work on return migration was one of the first to highlight the positive impact of temporary migration on entrepreneurship in the home country. She has wide experience in the impact of international migration, the determinants of return migration and the labour market experience of immigrants in host countries.

She has advised various national governments and international organisations including the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the European Training Foundation (ETF) and the European Commission (EC).

In 2020, Professor Jackline Wahba received an OBE for services to Economic Policy.

Appointed: November 2012 to November 2015

Reappointed: December 2015 to November 2018

Reappointed: November 2018 to November 2020, this term was subsequently extended to February 2021

Financial reporting

The MAC are allocated a budget by the Home Office, which is managed by the Head of the Secretariat. The MAC’s delegated budget for the period 1st April 2020 to 31st March 2021 was £900,000.

It is used for the costs of:

• the MAC Secretariat (a team of around 23 civil servants),
• the Chair, who is paid £40,000 per year (for an expected two days’ work per week on MAC business) and,
• committee members fees (a rate of £275 per day), with members normally working two days per month on MAC business. Members are expected to attend at least 80% of the full meetings held by the MAC per year, with these typically being held at least once per month.
• non-pay administrative costs including:
  • travel and subsistence,
  • staff training,
  • production of reports, and
  • subscription licence for data

Budget and expenditure

	FY20/21 Budget (£)	FY20/21 Expenditure (£)	FY19/20 Budget (£)	FY19/20 Expenditure (£)
Secretariat salaries		932,926		728,319
Chair salary		40,000		36,667
Committee members’ fees		23,650		39,875
Travel and subsistence		196		11,829
Training & Development		32,846		9,995
Conference & Publications		-		7,470
Other Office Costs		15,263		9,396
Total	900,000	1,044,881	660,000	843,551

Source: Home Office financial system.

Notes: Budget breakdown is not available. Total budget was delegated as a single amount.

The final expenditure, excluding research, which is detailed below, was overspent by around £145,000. This can be attributed to the recruitment of additional staff required to deliver extra work and having fewer unfilled vacancies within the secretariat than were experienced in the FY19-20. In addition, the extra staff led to higher training costs when compared to the previous year.

The amount of £28,139 was utilized for research purposes. Research is not included in Table 1, as it does not represent part of the day-to-day running costs of the MAC but is instead wholly driven by the commissions the MAC receives from Government. All research is separately commissioned by the secretariat on behalf of the MAC, using the standard Home Office procurement process, to ensure that it delivers value for money. Costs of research were around £7,000 lower than the previous financial year.

Research and publications

In relation to the MAC review of the UK Shortage Occupation List, published September 2020, the MAC commissioned:

• research on the Employer Skill Survey and analysis of data from the Call for Evidence, carried out by IFF Research. This was not published separately, but forms part of the SOL publication.
• a literature review on employer decision-making and migration, which was carried out by the Institute of Employment Research at Warwick University and City-REDI at Birmingham University. Their report is published at the following link: Literature review on employer decision-making and migration - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Recruitment

• Professor Brian Bell was officially appointed as chair of the MAC on 1st July 2020, after a period as interim chair.
• Professor Jo Swaffield was reappointed as a member of the MAC for a further 3 years from 6th February 2021.
• Dr Jennifer Smith and Professor Jackline Wahba OBE reached the end of their terms and left their roles as members in February 2021.
• On 1st May 2021, Professor Dina Kiwan and Professor Sergi Pardos-Prado were appointed as members of the MAC for 3 years.

2021 Stakeholder engagement

Record of all engagement in 2021 leading up to this report.

• 14 January 2021: Meeting with DHSC. Attendees: Secretariat Members
• 21 January 2021: Meeting with HM Treasury. Attendees: Secretariat Members
• 25 January 2021: MAC Stakeholder Forum. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Madeleine Sumption, Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 26 January 2021: HO National Advisory Group. Attendees: Secretariat Members
• 27 January 2021: Meeting with Home Office DG for Migration. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Toby Nutley
• 3 February 2021: DIT meeting re: ICT Commission. Attendees: Secretariat Members
• 9 February 2021: Fragomen- discuss MAC’s ICT Commission. Attendees: Secretariat Members
• 16 February 2021: Introductory meeting with the Scottish Expert Advisory Group. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 8 March 2021: Cross- Whitehall Stakeholder Forum. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Madeleine Sumption, Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 9 March 2021: Prof. Bell Presenting at Westminster Legal Policy Forum regarding the Future Immigration System and MAC work Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 11 March 2021: Meeting with the Low Pay Commission Attendees: Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 16 March 2021: Meeting with Stephen van Rooyen, Chair of the Skills and Productivity Board Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
• 17 March 2021: Discussion with Scottish DA counterparts re: ICT Commission Attendees: Secretariat Members
• 22 March 2021: Discussion with Fragomen re: ICT Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Madeleine Sumption, Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 22 March 2021: Meeting with Scottish Government officials Attendees: Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 25 March 2021: ICT Meeting with PWC and stakeholders. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Madeleine Sumption, Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 26 March 2021: Meeting with DEFRA. Attendees: Secretariat Members
• 30 March 2021: IGC Immigration Working group Meeting. Attendees: Secretariat Members
• 1 April 2021: Disabled People Against Cuts. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Madeleine Sumption, Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 13 April 2021: MAC Stakeholder Forum. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 19 April 2021: ICT Meeting with EY and stakeholders. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 22 April 2021: Low Pay Commission Research Workshop. Attendees: Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 26 April 2021: ICT meeting with Deloitte and stakeholders. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 26 April 2021: Meeting with Scottish Gov Officials re: SOL. Attendees: Secretariat Members
• 28 April 2021: ICT meeting with Infosys. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair, Madeleine Sumption + Secretariat Members
• 30 April 2021: ICT meeting with WIPRO. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Madeleine Sumption, Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 5 May 2021: ICT meeting with N. Ireland stakeholders. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 7 May 2021: ICT meeting with USA embassy. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Madeleine Sumption, Prof Dina Kiwan + Secretariat Members
• 12 May 2021: ICT meeting with Scottish stakeholders. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 17 May 2021: ICT meeting with NI stakeholders. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Madeleine Sumption, Prof Sergi Pardos-Prado, Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 18 May 2021: ICT meeting with Tata Consultancy Services. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Prof Sergi Pardos-Prado, Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 20 May 2021: ICT meeting with Scottish stakeholders. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Prof Sergi Pardos-Prado + Secretariat Members
• 21 May 2021: Westminster Forum. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair - presenting) + Secretariat Members
• 27 May 2021: ICT meeting with Cognizant. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Secretariat Members
• 16 June 2021: Meeting with NI Gov Officials. Attendees: Secretariat Members
• 22 June 2021: Future of Care: Panel Session, King’s Fund. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
• 24 June 2021: Meeting with BEIS. Attendees: Secretariat Members
• 2 July 2021: ICT meeting with German embassy. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Secretariat Members
• 7 July 2021: Cross-Whitehall Stakeholder Forum. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Prof Sergi Pardos-Prado, Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 14 July 2021: Meeting with HMRC regarding data matching. Attendees: Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 4 August 2021 : MAC Stakeholder Forum. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 9 August 2021: Meeting with Prof. Green, Care England. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Madeleine Sumption, Prof Sergi Pardos-Prado, Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 11 August 2021: MAC meeting with the Scottish Government. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 17 August 2021: Social care meeting with Scottish Care. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Prof Sergi Pardos-Prado, Prof Dina Kiwan, Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 17 August 2021: HM Treasury meeting re: ICT engagement. Attendees: Secretariat Members
• 18 August 2021: Engagement with African Union Commission. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 18 August 2021: Social care meeting with Scottish officials. Attendees: Secretariat Members
• 19 August 2021: Social care meeting with DHSC. Attendees: Secretariat Members
• 8 September 2021: Social care meeting with the Cavendish Coalition. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Prof Dina Kiwan, Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 9 September 2021: Social care meeting with Care Forum Wales. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Madeleine Sumption, Prof Jo Swaffield, Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 13 September 2021: Engagement with J. Manthorpe regarding social care expert panel. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 14 September 2021: Social care meeting with Minister Whately. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 15 September 2021: Engagement with F. van Hooren, R. Hughes and V Rayner regarding social care expert panel. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 16 September 2021: Social care meeting with Scottish Ministers. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 17 September 2021: Meeting with Scottish Government officials regarding the social care commission. Attendees: Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 22 September 2021: Social care meeting with the Spinal Injuries Association. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Madeleine Sumption, Prof Jo Swaffield, Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 23 September 2021: Social care meeting with Scotland Social Services Council. Attendees: Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 23 September 2021: Engagement with Seafood Scotland. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 23 September 2021: Social care meeting with NI Gov officials. Attendees: Secretariat Members
• 24 September 2021: Social care meeting with Disabled people Against Cuts. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Prof Jo Swaffield, Prof Dina Kiwan + Secretariat Members
• 28 September 2021: Social care meeting with Local Government Association. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 29 September 2021: Social care meeting with Social Care Wales. Attendees: Secretariat Members
• 30 September 2021: Social care meeting with Welsh Deputy Minister. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 30 September 2021: Social care meeting with DHSC. Attendees: Secretariat Members
• 5 October 2021: Social Care expert session with Sir Andrew Dilnot, Dr Florin Vadean and Prof. Shereen Hussein. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Madeleine Sumption, Prof. Jo Swaffield, Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 7 October 2021: Social care meeting with Scottish Care. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Madeleine Sumption, Prof Jo Swaffield, Prof Sergi Pardos-Prado, Prof Dina Kiwan, Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 8 October 2021: Cross- Whitehall Stakeholder Forum. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 13 October 2021: Care Show Birmingham: Panellist. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
• 15 October 2021: Social care meeting with Nursing Homes Ireland. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Prof Jo Swaffield, Madeleine Sumption, Prof Sergi Pardos-Prado, Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 19 October 2021: Social care meeting with IHCP (representative of care providers in Northern Ireland). Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Prof Dina Kiwan, Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 20 October 2021: Social care meeting with N. Ireland Social Care Minister, Robin Swann. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 21 October 2021: HM Treasury meeting re: ICT engagement. Attendees: Secretariat Members
• 21 October 2021: Meeting with Skills for Care re: data. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Secretariat Members
• 28 October 2021: Social care meeting with Care England. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Prof Jo Swaffield, Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 1 November 2021: Meeting with the ONS. Attendees: Secretariat Members
• 2 November 2021: Speaker at Fragomen Immigration School. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
• 3 November 2021: Social care roundtable with Nuffield Trust and Health Foundation representatives. Attendees:Secretariat Members
• 4 November 2021: Social care roundtable with King’s Fund and Work Foundation representatives. Attendees: Secretariat Members
• 4 November 2021: MAC Stakeholder Forum. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Prof Jo Swaffield, Prof Dina Kiwan, Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 4 November 2021: Speaker at British American Business Meeting. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
• 10 November 2021: Social Care meeting with Trade Union representatives. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Toby Nutley + Secretariat Members
• 12 November 2021: Meeting with Cabinet Office and No 10 officials. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
• 30 November 2021: Meeting with Munira Mirza, Head of No10 Policy Unit. Attendees: Prof Brian Bell (Chair)