Letter to the Migration Advisory Committee on changes to the shortage occupation list (accessible version)
Published 10 March 2021
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Professor Brian Bell
Migration Advisory Committee
2nd Floor Peel Building
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF
4 March 2021
Changes to the shortage occupation list
Dear Brian
I am writing to inform you of upcoming changes we are making to the Shortage Occupation List (SOL), following the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC)’s review last year.
In the Home Secretary’s letter to you of 22 October, she commented on the rapid changes to the UK labour market and how we need time to monitor the impact of the new Skilled Worker route, as well as how the economy recovers post-Covid-19. This remains the case today. The Government therefore still considers we should not make wide scale changes to the SOL relating to medium-skilled occupations, which have only recently become eligible for Skilled Worker visas, at this time.
Nevertheless, we consider this should not stand in the way of routine changes relating to occupations which were previously eligible, or the particular recruitment needs faced by the health and social care sector at this extremely challenging time. The Government is therefore making the following changes to the SOL, as informed by the MAC’s review:
| Occupation code | Change to the SOL |
|---|---|
| 1181 Health services and public health managers and directors | All jobs added |
| 1241 Residential, day and domiciliary care managers and proprietors | All jobs added |
| 2214 Pharmacists | All jobs added |
| 2219 Health professionals not elsewhere classified | All jobs added – The MAC recommended jobs in Wales be added to the SOL. The Government is expanding this to include all jobs across the UK. |
| 2221 Physiotherapists | All jobs added |
| 2314 Secondary education teaching professionals | Modern foreign language teachers added to list of existing subjects |
| 3111 Laboratory technicians | All jobs added |
| 6141 Nursing auxiliaries and assistants | All jobs added |
| 6146 Senior care workers | All jobs added |
| 5434 Chefs | Removed |
We are also accepting the MAC’s recommendation to recognise deckhands on large (9m+) fishing vessels and vent chick sexers as meeting the skills threshold for the Skilled Worker route, where they have 3 years’ relevant experience. Although these jobs will not be included on the SOL, they will become eligible for Skilled Worker visas where a sponsoring employer is offering a salary of at least £25,600, in line with other non-shortage occupations.
These changes will take effect from 6 April. The necessary Immigration Rules changes are being laid in Parliament and published today.
We agree with the MAC’s recommendations there should be a more regular pattern of major and minor reviews of the SOL in future, and the first major review should not take place before 2022. We do not intend to commission a minor review this year, making the major review in 2022 the first under this new approach. We will set out further details when this review is commissioned.
I would like to thank you and the rest of the MAC again for the high-quality report you produced.
Yours sincerely,
Kevin Foster MP
Minister for Future Borders and Immigration