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The Migration Advisory Committee


The information in this section is produced by the Migration Advisory Committee's Secretariat. The Secretariat is independent of the UK Border Agency.

Government responds to Migration Advisory Committee's recommended shortage occupation lists - 13 May 2009

Today the Government announced its response to the Migration Advisory Committee's (MAC) review of the recommended shortage occupation lists for the United Kingdom and Scotland, which was published by the MAC last month.

MAC chairman David Metcalf said:

'We are pleased that the Government has accepted in full our revised recommended shortage occupation lists. We will continue to monitor the labour market given the current economic situation and will submit our next update to Government later this year.'

The MAC is next due to report to the Government on shortage occupations by the end of September 2009. By then the MAC will have reviewed all of the occupations on its original recommended shortage lists, published in September 2008.

New areas of work for the Migration Advisory Committee - notification of call for evidence

The MAC has been asked by the Government to offer advice on the following questions, in addition to its continuing work on the shortage occupation lists:

  • Is there an economic case for restricting tier 2 to shortage occupations only?
  • What is the Committee's assessment of the economic contribution made by the dependants of the points-based system migrants and their role in the labour market?
  • What further changes to the criteria for tier 1 should there be in 2010/11, given the changing economic circumstances?

The Committee has been asked to publish reports addressing the first two questions by the end of July 2009, and a report addressing the third question by the end of October 2009.

The Committee has published a paper (PDF 180K opens in a new window) on its planned approach to this work. This includes a call for evidence, the deadline for which is 11 June 2009.

Migration Advisory Committee publishes new report on recommended shortage occupation lists for Scotland and the United Kingdom - first partial review - 29 April 2009

On 29 April 2009 the Migration Advisory Committee published its latest report (PDF 1.3M opens in a new window), making recommendations based on its first partial review of the shortage occupation lists for the United Kingdom and Scotland. These lists, which are used alongside Tier 2 of the points-based system for managing immigration, comprise skilled occupations where there are shortages that can sensibly be filled by enabling employers to recruit migrants from outside the European Economic Area (EEA).

The Committee produced its first recommended lists in September 2008, which were accepted in full by the Government. The Committee said that it would carry out partial reviews every six months, with a full review every two years. This report is the result of the first partial review. A press notice announcing publication of the report can be found on this website.

The Government will announce in due course whether it accepts the Committee's recommended amendments to the lists. The Committee will continue to review the lists, with the next partial review due to be published in autumn 2009. A list of the occupations being reviewed (PDF 16K opens in a new window) can be found on this website.

Evidence submitted by stakeholders is an important part of the Committee's deliberations. The Committee encourages contact from stakeholders to submit evidence where it is believed that an occupation should be included, or not included, on the shortage occupation lists.