Correspondence

Labour Market Evidence Group initial priorities and workplan: letter to ministers

Published 25 November 2025

Migration Advisory Committee
2nd Floor Peel Building NE
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF
enquiries@mac.gov.uk

8 August 2025

Dear Chancellor, Home Secretary, Secretary of State for Education, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Secretary of State for Business and Trade.

The Immigration White Paper, published 12 May, announced the establishment of the Labour Market Evidence Group (LMEG) to “draw on the best data available in order to make informed decisions about the state of the labour market and the role that different policies should play, rather than always relying on migration”.

The partners in the LMEG have commenced work and met for the first time on the 29 July 2025. This letter sets out our proposed terms of reference and initial workplan for your information and comment. Ministers in the UK Government in HM Treasury, Home Office, Department for Education, Department for Work and Pensions, and Department for Business and Trade are receiving this letter, and the relevant ministers for the devolved governments are also receiving a copy.

Membership of the LMEG consists of:

• Dame Nancy Rothwell, Deputy Chair, Industrial Strategy Advisory Council
• Tom Younger, Chief Economist at the Department for Work and Pensions
• Phil Smith, Chair of Skills England Professor Brian Bell, Chair of the Migration Advisory Committee

The devolved governments of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are represented in the group through equivalent representatives to Skills England:

• Scottish Government – Richard Murray, Deputy Director, Economic Development Analysis
• Welsh Government – Dr Thomas Nicholls, Welsh Government Chief Economist
• Northern Ireland Executive – Victor Dukelow, Chief Economist, Department for Economy

The terms of reference set out that this cross-government partnership will work to support the UK Government’s aim to rebalance UK labour market away from an over-reliance on international recruitment and towards domestic workers, and to ensure that growth-driving sectors have access to the skilled workers they need now and into the future. It will do so by providing analysis and sharing evidence to inform government policy making.

The LMEG does not have policy-making powers but provides evidence to inform government decisions. The LMEG as a group will not make policy recommendations unless specifically commissioned by UK Government ministers to do so.

The LMEG will act to:

• integrate data and research findings to provide a comprehensive picture of labour market needs and future direction
• generate a shared UK-wide evidence base to improve policy alignment
• inform and support co-ordination in policy and delivery
• improve the data and analytical framework around labour issues

As the organisations comprising the group, we are taking forward these commitments and establishing the necessary structures to deliver this work. The LMEG will meet quarterly and will be supported by officials across member organisations.

Aligning with the UK Government’s priorities, the group has developed a workplan for its first year. Key drivers for the first year are for the LMEG to support the MAC commission to review the temporary shortage list and the shaping of workforce strategies for key growth sectors:

• identify priority occupations for the LMEG by collating and aligning data across the partners: this will support the next stages for the temporary shortage list review, as well as informing implementation of the workforce strategies and industry skills initiatives
• defining elements of a good sector workforce strategy: this will inform stakeholders of what they need to produce to support access to the temporary shortage list, and serve as a guide for the development of wider workforce strategies across sectors
• strengthen the evidence base and analytical framework on diagnosing underlying causes of workforce shortages – whether that be a lack of training, retention, poor working conditions or other factors
• develop an LMEG view on preferred methodologies for forecasting future workforce skills needs and agree projections for key sectors
• improve availability and use of labour market and migration data across the LMEG

We welcome your views on this set of initial priorities. We will continue to update our workplan beyond the first year, so we remain aligned with UK Government priorities.

The outputs of this work will be shared with you and officials across relevant departments. We will be happy to present the key findings and conclusions of our analysis. If you and the other relevant ministers for LMEG members wish to commission the LMEG to undertake specific analysis, we would prioritise that over the workplan.

The LMEG members and officials look forward to this cross-government collaboration and its potential to bring coherence to the evidence base and impact policy across labour market policy. We welcome your feedback on our proposed approach and workplan by Friday 12 September. We will otherwise proceed to deliver the workplan as set out above.

On behalf of the Labour Market Evidence Group.

Yours sincerely

Professor Brian Bell

Chair, Migration Advisory Committee

cc:

• Kaukab Stewart MSP Scottish Minister for Equalities
• Jane Hunt MS Welsh Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip
• Dr Caoimhe Archibald MLA Northern Irish Minister for the Economy