Migrant Workers

(asked on 25th January 2016) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to ensure that Intra Company Transfer Tier 2 visas cannot be used to replace a UK worker who has been made redundant.


Answered by
James Brokenshire Portrait
James Brokenshire
This question was answered on 1st February 2016

Tier 2, the skilled worker route, is designed to fill roles which cannot be filled by a suitable resident worker. The immigration rules, and UK employment law, do not allow workers to be made redundant and directly replaced.

It is a decision for businesses whether to outsource certain functions. We are, however, mindful of concerns that use of the Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) category for third party contracting may undercut or displace resident workers.

That is why, in June last year, we commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to examine the ICT category as part of its wider review on Tier 2. The MAC published its report on 19 January and it can be found on the gov.uk website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/migration-advisory-committee-mac-review-tier-2-migration

Chapter 6 of the report sets out the MAC’s findings on the ICT category, including its use for third party contracting, the salaries paid to IT workers and the impacts on the resident labour market. The MAC found that salaries for these transferees were clustered around the 25th percentile of earnings for resident workers in IT occupations (the current minimum permitted under the immigration rules).

The Government is currently considering the MAC’s findings carefully and will announce any changes in due course.

Reticulating Splines