The Migration Advisory Committee is a

non-departmental public body In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process of na ...

associated with the British Home Office. It was established in 2007. Professor Alan Manning is the current chair. Professor Sir David Metcalf CBE was the chair from 2007 to 2016. Its former members include Diane Coyle. It offers independent advice to the government on immigration policy, and particularly on the Shortage Occupation List. When occupations are placed on this list, UK employers have less restrictions for recruiting candidates directly from overseas; specifically from outside the EU. They would no longer need to complete a residency test, which involves demonstrating that a search for suitable candidates within the UK in the first instance has been unsuccessful. In October 2011, actuaries were added to the UK Government's shortage occupation list. They were removed from the list in April 2013 following a consultation by the Committee in January 2013. They recommended that employers hiring skilled workers from outside the European Union should have to pay £1,000 surcharge per head in January 2016 as an incentive to train more British staff. The Committee produced a report in 2016 in which they heavily criticised the

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ...

Health Education England Health Education England (HEE) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care. Its function is to provide national leadership and coordination for the education and training within the health and public h ...

and NHS trusts for not recognising obvious warning signs over a number of years, and "reluctantly" agreed to keep nursing on the list of shortage occupations. It produced a report on seasonal labour in horticulture after the abolition of the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme. The changes to the immigration rules in 2012, which affect the settlement of non-European economic area workers with tier II visas earning less than £35,000 were based on the recommendations of the committee.

References

See also