Transparency data

March 2024 Migration Advisory Committee meeting minutes

Updated 21 October 2024

$A Migration Advisory Committee  2nd Floor, Peel Building NE  2 Marsham Street  London  SW1P 4DF

173rd meeting of Migration Advisory Committee: minutes

Friday 15th March 2024 11:00 to 14:00

In-person conference

Attending

Professor Brian Bell

Professor Dina Kiwan

Professor Sergi Pardos-Prado

Dr Madeleine Sumption

Professor Jo Swaffield

Claire Smith

Holly White

MAC Secretariat

Agenda Item 1 – Welcome and introductions

1. Brian Bell opened the meeting and welcomed the attendees.

Agenda Item 2 – Graduate Route – review update

2. Brian Bell provided an update on the Graduate Route commission that the MAC formally received on 11th March. The deadline for the MAC to report back to Government is 14th May. The MAC has offered suggestions for stakeholders in the Higher Education sector to attend our upcoming roundtables. The aims of these roundtables are to hear from the sector, build engagement, and draw upon international comparisons. Brian would also like the Committee to engage in conversation with Sir Steve Smith in the near future.

Agenda Item 3 – Graduate Route – expanded report skeleton

3. A member of the MAC Secretariat presented the expanded report skeleton of the Graduate Route commission. The Committee provided feedback on the report skeleton.

Agenda Item 4 – Graduate Route – approach to stakeholder roundtables

4. A member of the MAC Secretariat confirmed that four roundtables have been scheduled with stakeholders in the Higher Education sector. There is also geographic spread across the UK amongst representatives, and different types of institutions have been invited to provide their contributions to the discussion. The Committee were asked to provide their views on the topic guide for roundtables.

Agenda Item 5 – Graduate Route – conflicts of interest declaration

5. A member of the MAC Secretariat presented on the conflicts of interest declaration that holds the MAC’s governance to account for potential conflicts of interest in the work it conducts. This will be included in the final report.

Agenda Item 6 – Graduate Route – verbal update on research plans

6. A member of the MAC Secretariat confirmed that a series of 40 interviews conducted by Revealing Reality will take place with Graduate Route visa holders from a range of different universities. The participants will also comprise a mixture of those studying both undergraduate and Master’s degrees.

Agenda Item 7 – Home Office, MAC Secretariat and MAC updates, plus minutes from previous meeting

7. Holly White from the MAC Secretariat and Claire Smith from the Home Office discussed the immigration rules that were laid in Parliament recently. The Committee also discussed the full review of the ISL that the MAC expects to receive from Government later in the year.

8. Additionally, the Committee spoke about the Graduate Route and confirmed that the MAC Secretariat are liaising with DfE and the Home Office to ensure that we have access to the appropriate data. Lastly, Brian Bell met with the CEO of the GLAA (Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority) to discuss the regulation of labour exploitation in the UK.

Agenda Item 8 – Seasonal Work – overall scoping and chapter 2

9. A member of the MAC Secretariat set out issues on the content and structure of the report. The Committee provided feedback on the scope and structure.

Agenda Item 9 – Seasonal Work – chapters 3 and 4

10. Two members of the MAC Secretariat each presented a summary of the draft chapters they had written for the report and subsequently received feedback from the Committee.

Agenda Item 10 – Annual Report 2024 topics

11. The discussion on the Annual Report 2024 was postponed until a later date in view of the multiple commissions that the MAC is currently progressing.

Agenda Item 11 – AOB

12. None.