International Organization for Migration (IOM)

UNITED KINGDOM
Anne e. green and david owen 87 10
Abstract
10
Labour migration policy in the United Kingdom (UK) operates in the context
of a liberal market economy with a more flexible labour market and a relatively
small welfare state compared with most EEA comparators. The labour migration
system is predominantly “demand-led”. In 2008 a Points Based System (PBS) was
introduced to support economic growth and competitiveness, replacing most previous
policies. Since 2008 adjustments have been made to entry criteria, including raising
of requirements for English language competence and quantitative restrictions
on numbers of entrants to the United Kingdom. The emphasis of the managed
migration system is on attracting skilled workers to fill gaps in the United Kingdom
labour market and third-country nationals in employment are disproportionately
concentrated in more highly skilled roles. This contrasts with migrants from Central
and Eastern Europe filling mainly less-skilled roles.
The United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA) is responsible for the implementation
of UK labour migration policy. Large employers and employers’ associations have
a formal and informal influencing and consultative role in the development of
the details of migration policy. An independent Migration Advisory Committee
(MAC) of economists and migration experts is involved in dialogue and analysis
to identify where immigration might sensibly fill shortages of skilled labour in the
United Kingdom.
Employers have responsibility for the selection of migrants and for ensuring
compliance with migration and employment law. This burden of responsibility is
particularly severe for small employers. The UKBA plays a key role in information
dissemination to employers and some guidance is available from employers’
associations and trade bodies for human resources personnel. Otherwise employers
87 Anne Green and David Owen are, respectively, Professorial Fellow and Principal Research Fellow at
the Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom.
country studIes – UNITED KINGDOM
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