Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what evidence they gave to the Migration Advisory Committee before it reached its conclusion that GPs and most categories of nurses should be excluded from the Tier 2 Shortage Occupation List.

The Government has commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to provide advice by the end of the year on restricting Tier 2 to genuine skills shortages and highly specialist experts. The Government will await the MAC’s findings before considering any further changes to the Shortage Occupation List.

Actuaries are not included on the Shortage Occupation List. The specialist jobs of informatician and bio-informatician, which share the same occupation code, are included. Only the most highly skilled chefs, earning £29,570 and with five or more years' experience, are included on the list. The MAC last reviewed these occupations in its February 2013 report, which can be read at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/recommended-shortage-occupation-lists-for-the-uk-and-scotland-full-review-with-sunset-clause-feb-2013

The MAC last reviewed GPs and nurses in its February 2015 report, which can be read at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/partial-review-of-the-shortage-occupation-lists.

The MAC recommended waiting until a Department of Health initiative to incentivise medical graduates to become GPs is evaluated, before adding GPs to the Shortage Occupation List. The MAC also recommended, based on the evidence it received, that nurses should not be added to the list. The Government accepted those recommendations. The evidence provided to the MAC by Government and other organisations is set out in its report.