August 2024 Migration Advisory Committee meeting minutes
Updated 21 October 2024
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Migration Advisory Committee
2nd Floor, Peel Building NE
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF
178th meeting of Migration Advisory Committee: minutes
Friday 16th August 2024, 10:00 - 12:30
Online
Attending
Professor Brian Bell
Professor Dina Kiwan
Professor Sergi Pardos-Prado
Dr Madeleine Sumption
Professor Jo Swaffield
Home Office representative (covering for Claire Smith)
MAC Secretariat
Apologies
Claire Smith
Holly White
Agenda Item 1 – Welcome and introductions
Brian Bell opened the meeting and welcomed the attendees.
Agenda Item 2 – Home Office, MAC Secretariat and MAC updates, plus minutes from previous meeting
A Home Office representative described the Home Secretary’s priorities in relation to legal migration.
Madeleine Sumption and Brian Bell highlighted trends in visa applications in the health and care sector.
A member of the Secretariat updated on preparations for future and current commissions, including data sources and engagement with external stakeholders. The MAC’s resourcing was discussed.
Brian Bell reported on his meetings with the Scottish Government.
Agenda Item 3 – Minimum Income Requirement (MIR) and Adequate Maintenance (AM) policy teach-in
A Home Office policy expert delivered a teach in on the Family Immigration Rules. This covered a technical explanation of the relevant tests (such as the MIR) as well as the legal basis and history. The teach-in explained the different family routes and how these tests vary across them, including example calculations and application trends. The Home Office policy experts left the meeting upon completion of this item.
Agenda Item 4 – MIR and AM review – objectives and approach
Members of the Secretariat proposed an initial approach to the review and this was discussed in the context of the methodology from the MAC’s 2011 report. Initial technical issues and data sources were explored. Research options, the approach to the Call for Evidence, and stakeholder engagement strategies were discussed.
Agenda Item 5 – IT and engineering review – objectives and approach
Members of the Secretariat outlined an initial plan for engagement and analysis, and for the key objectives of the review. A proposal on defining the sectors was also presented. The Committee discussed the scope of the review and the limitations of different approaches, as well as initial metrics which would be informative. The initial approach was agreed.
Agenda Item 6 – Fiscal methodology
A member of the Secretariat presented the methodology and assumptions for the static fiscal analysis project. The Committee discussed the background for these assumptions and their robustness, as well as possible further breakdowns of the available data and suggestions for further analysis.
Agenda Item 7 – Annual report content
A member of the Secretariat outlined the proposed content and structure of the annual report. The Committee suggested some additional analysis and discussed resource constraints in the light of ongoing commissions.
Agenda Item 8 – AOB
Brian Bell and the Committee thanked several members of the Secretariat who will shortly be taking up new appointments across the Civil Service.