Scrap the migration target and open the doors to global talent

As the Brexit debate rages on, the government is gearing up to confirm new immigration rules, including the end to freedom of movement for people from the EU.

The warning light should be flashing for businesses, particularly in the capital. If immigration is curtailed, who will do the jobs? We are at full employment, and London is already facing labour shortages.

We must therefore ensure that, once we have left the EU, we have a new streamlined immigration system that allows business to access the skills they need, while ensuring that the right controls are in place.

At the top of our list of reforms, put together with input from over 200 of London’s employers, is scrapping the arbitrary net migration target to bring numbers down to below 100,000 migrants per year.

The target should be replaced with a single managed system with clear routes into the UK for overseas workers of all skills levels, focusing on the people the economy needs, rather than crude numbers.

The existing £30,000 salary threshold for Tier 2 visas (for high-skilled overseas workers) is too high – if applied across the board, over half the people employed in London wouldn’t be working here.

Lowering the salary threshold to the London Living Wage, currently set at £20,155, will avoid a recruitment cliff-edge, keep the UK open to a range of skills, and ensure that workers are decently paid.

As businesses start to fill existing skills gaps – by investing in training and technology – the salary threshold can be gradually raised.

Currently, the Shortage Occupation List allows employers to hire people from overseas who meet identified skills shortages – such as nurses, engineers, and social workers – to keep the economic wheels turning.

However, it was last reviewed in 2013, which means that it fails to reflect the current labour market, as well as being clunky and unresponsive.

We need to start planning ahead and align this list with the government’s industrial strategy, so nurses and graphic designers – currently on the list – sit alongside important jobs that do not get a look in, such as engineering technicians, data analysts, and GP practice managers.

This would make it more responsive to the economy’s actual needs and help strengthen vital sectors.

In addition, a third route for small numbers of high-value entrepreneurs, innovators, and creative talent needs to continue.

As freedom of movement ends, the Home Office will have to handle vastly more applications. A digital system would not only cut red tape but also offer accurate, real-time data. A resident labour market test could prioritise UK workers, with a “Swiss-style” emergency brake if unemployment rises, helping to alleviate voter concerns about the pace of immigration.

Finally, the government’s Migration Advisory Committee should be given statutory powers, like the Office for Budget Responsibility, to provide an ongoing, evidence-led review of migration and its role in our economy.

This will be critical to maintaining public confidence in the system and ensuring we have a grip on numbers coming in and out – in other words, that we have taken back control.

As we leave the EU, we must balance the scrapping of freedom of movement by scrapping the net migration target with it, and cut down salary constraints, so we can recruit the workers our economy actually needs.

Post-Brexit Britain should not be preparing to shut the door on international talent.

We should instead be rolling out the welcome mat to the people who contribute so much to our city.