The Department for Work and Pensions should be the first port of call for employers seeking to fill vacancies, rather than the Home Office.<\/p>
On advice from the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), the Government broadened the eligibility of Skilled Worker visas from graduate jobs only to include jobs skilled to RQF level 3 (roughly equivalent to A-levels) and lowered the salary threshold to £25,600 enabling employers to recruit in more customer facing roles than was possible under the previous immigration system.<\/p>
Yet where a job needs only a short period of training or time to acquire the qualifications necessary the focus should be on recruiting from the domestic labour market, especially given the economic impact of the global pandemic means many may be looking for new employment or to change careers.<\/p>
Immigration policy cannot be seen as an alternative to improving training and career pathways or tackling issues such as unattractive pay and working conditions for those undertaking customer-facing roles. Given this we will not be introducing a general migration route allowing employers to recruit at or near the minimum wage, with no work-based training requirements, including to such roles.<\/p>
More broadly, the Government\u2019s Plan for Jobs is helping people across the country retrain, build new skills and getting back into work as part of the UK\u2019s recovery from COVID-19, with the Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Education and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy leading work on the overall UK labour market and skills.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4451", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Kevin Foster"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Torbay"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Kevin Foster"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2021-07-06", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2021-07-06T15:19:18.03Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2021-06-28", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Migrant Workers: Visas"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans the Government has to introduce a visa scheme to allow employers to recruit overseas workers to customer-facing roles.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4663", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Ben Bradley"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Mansfield"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Ben Bradley"} ], "uin" : "23310"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1337416", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Home Office"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1337416/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Department for Work and Pensions should be the first port of call for employers seeking to fill vacancies, rather than the Home Office.<\/p>
We do not view any job as \u201cunskilled\u201d, the difference is how long it takes to train for or gain the necessary qualifications for it. Where a job needs only a short period of training or time to acquire the qualifications necessary the focus should be on recruiting from the domestic labour market, especially given the economic impact of the global pandemic means many may be looking for new employment or to change careers.<\/p>
Immigration policy cannot be seen as an alternative to improving training and career pathways or tackling issues such as unattractive pay and working conditions. Given this we will not be introducing a general migration route allowing employers to recruit at or near the minimum wage, with no work-based training requirements.<\/p>
More broadly, the Government\u2019s Plan for Jobs is helping people across the country retrain, build new skills and getting back into work as part of the UK\u2019s recovery from COVID-19, with the Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Education and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy leading work on the overall UK labour market and skills.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4451", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Kevin Foster"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Torbay"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Kevin Foster"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2021-06-25", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2021-06-25T12:13:53.123Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2021-06-16", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Manual Workers: Vacancies"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that unskilled labour vacancies are being filled since the UK left the EU.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4663", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Ben Bradley"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Mansfield"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Ben Bradley"} ], "uin" : "16942"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1217609", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Home Office"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1217609/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Unless prohibited by UK legislation, decisions around the sale of merchandise are for retailers to make. The Home Secretary and I are appalled at the existence of the Blue Lives Murder merchandise and strongly support the Police Federation\u2019s campaign to encourage retailers to stop selling it.<\/p>
<\/p>
Our remarkable police courageously serve our country and keep us safe - they deserve our utmost respect and support.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4495", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Kit Malthouse"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "North West Hampshire"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Kit Malthouse"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2020-07-08", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2020-07-08T09:24:11.607Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2020-06-24", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Clothing: Sales"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with representatives from Amazon on the sale of Blue Lives Murder merchandise in the UK; and what steps she is taking to prevent the sale of such merchandise.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4663", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Ben Bradley"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Mansfield"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Ben Bradley"} ], "uin" : "64316"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1176397", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Home Office"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1176397/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Home Office officials are in regular contact with each of the recognised Sports Governing Bodies, annually reviewing the criteria that applies to each sport. This process of review ensures we strike the right balance between enabling top level international sportspeople to come to the UK, whilst protecting opportunities for resident sportspeople.<\/p>