Corporate report

Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) annual governance report, 2025 (accessible)

Published 17 December 2025

Foreword

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) is a non-statutory, non-time limited, non-departmental public body (NDPB) funded by the Home Office. Established in 2007, the Committee is currently made up of 5 members, including a Chair and a Deputy Chair.

This is the sixth Annual Report published as part of our wider remit, established in the 2018 Immigration White Paper and laid out in our framework document.

This governance report sits alongside our more analytically focused Annual Report. To support transparency, we are required to produce an annual declaration of financial accounts, and these form an integral part of this governance report. Within the financial report this year, we outline the in-year increase in the MAC’s budget allocated by the Home Office to support the government’s manifesto commitment to strengthen the MAC. This increased budget has enabled the MAC to conduct simultaneous reviews of migration-related matters for the Home Secretary for the first time, while also fulfilling a new role as part of the cross-government Labour Market Evidence Group (LMEG).

The report also includes a list of the stakeholder engagements that Committee members have attended this year and a record of all our commissioned work and research papers published in 2025.

The Migration Advisory Committee

Chair

Professor Brian Bell

Brian Bell is a Professor of Economics at King’s Business School, a faculty of King’s College London (KCL). He joined KCL in 2017, following 4 years as an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at Oxford University and a Tutorial Fellow at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. He is a Research Associate at the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics and a Trustee of the Nuffield Foundation. Professor Bell is a leading labour economist who is widely published, and his work on immigration has included papers examining the progress of immigrants in the labour market in the UK, and the impact of immigration on crime in the UK. He has also worked extensively outside academia, including at the Bank of England, the International Monetary Fund, and in a number of financial companies in the UK.

Professor Bell has previously served as a member of the Police and National Crime Agency Remuneration Review Bodies.

• Appointed February 2018 to February 2021
• Appointed Chair July 2020 to June 2023 (extended to September 2023)
• Reappointed Chair September 2023 to August 2026

Deputy Chair

Dr Madeline Sumption MBE

Madeleine Sumption is the Director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, which provides impartial analysis of migration in the UK for public and policy audiences. Her research focuses on labour migration and the economic and social impacts of migration policies.

Before joining Oxford, Madeleine was Director of Research for the international program at the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), in Washington, DC. She chairs the Office for National Statistics’ advisory panel on migration statistics. In 2017, she received an MBE for services to social science.

• Appointed July 2016 to July 2019
• Reappointed July 2019 to July 2022
• Reappointed July 2022 to July 2025
• Appointed Deputy Chair January 2025 to December 2025 (extended to December 2026)

Members

Professor Dina Kiwan

Dina Kiwan is a Professor of Comparative Education at the University of Birmingham, and Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS). She is also a Council Member of Research England (UKRI, 2025-2028). Professor Kiwan has an interdisciplinary background in psychology, sociology, and education. Her broad research programme focuses on citizenship, inclusion and is interdisciplinary and comparative in scope. Her interests centre around sociological and politico-philosophical examinations of inclusive citizenship through the lens of education policy, naturalisation policy and migration policy, in particular in the context of pluralist/multicultural societies, and also societies in conflict. 

Professor Kiwan has extensive and long-standing experience and networks in the UK and internationally, in the field of citizenship and inclusion. She is currently Academic Co-Director of the £25m flagship Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Research Commissioning Centre. Previous policy and consulting experience includes co-authoring the UNESCO curriculum framework for global citizenship education (2015), co-authoring the Diversity and Citizenship review for UK government’s Department of Education (2007), and appointment by the Home Secretary to the Home Office ‘Life in the UK’ Advisory Group (2002).  

• Appointed May 2021 to April 2024
• Reappointed May 2024 to April 2027

Professor Sergi Pardos-Prado

Sergi Pardos-Prado is a Professor of Comparative Politics and Research Excellence Framework Lead in Politics and International Relations at the University of Glasgow. He is also Affiliated Researcher at the Centre for Public Policy at Glasgow, and External Research Fellow at the Nottingham Interdisciplinary Centre for Economic and Political Research. He was previously Associate Professor in Politics at Merton College, University of Oxford, and Postdoctoral Prize Research Fellow at Nuffield College Oxford. He received his PhD in Political and Social Sciences from the European University Institute in Florence.

Professor Pardos-Prado’s research expertise lies at the intersection between comparative politics, comparative political economy, and political behaviour. His work focuses on the effects of immigration policy on migrant integration and migration intentions, and on how labour markets and, welfare state designs, affect inter-ethnic conflict. Professor Pardos-Prado’s research has been published in leading political science journals and gained external funding from prestigious funders.

• Appointed May 2021 to April 2024

• Reappointed May 2024 to April 2027

Professor Jo Swaffield

A Professor of Economics and Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Southampton, Professor Swaffield is an applied micro labour economist with strong research expertise in the UK labour market and a track record of providing quality research evidence to government. Her main research fields are in labour economics and applied micro-econometrics, focusing on issues such as the gender wage gap, low wages including minimum wages and the living wage, and employment, particularly in terms of working hours.

Professor Swaffield’s research has been published in leading economics journals and gained external funding from prestigious funders. She has delivered a number of commissioned research reports that have formed part of the evidence base for the Low Pay Commission’s recommendations on the UK’s National Minimum Wage.

• Appointed February 2018 to February 2021
• Reappointed February 2021 to February 2024 (extended to April 2024)
• Reappointed May 2024 to April 2027

See the register of interests for Committee members.

Financial reporting

This is our financial statement for the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. The MAC receives its funding directly from the Home Office and our budget is managed by the MAC’s Head of Secretariat.

The current government stated its intention to strengthen the MAC on entering office in July 2024. These strengthening measures have included expanding the MAC Secretariat, creating a new Deputy Chair role and expanding to a full-time Chair role to support increased outputs and a new remit within the Labour Market Evidence Group (LMEG).

To support these additional functions, the MAC’s in-year budget for financial year (FY) 24/25 was adjusted from £1,400,000 to £2,200,000.

Table 1: MAC budget and expenditure

FY24/25

	Budget (£)	Expenditure (£)
Secretariat salaries		1,648,453
Chair remuneration		79,500
Deputy Chair remuneration		11,246
Committee member fees		19,800
Travel and subsistence		13,013
Training & development		24,144
Other costs and services		922
Other office costs		16,534
Research and development		71,448
Total	2,200,000	1,884,060

FY23/24

	Budget (£)	Expenditure (£)
Secretariat salaries		1,336,850
Chair remuneration		40,000
Deputy Chair remuneration
Committee member fees		23,650
Travel and subsistence		12,909
Training & development		24,144
Other costs and services		6,548
Other office costs
Research and development		10,877
Total	1,350,000	1,430,834

Source: Home Office financial system.

Note: The total number of staff includes 7 placements of various grades funded by separate central Home Office budget and are not included in the salaries in Table 1.

The FY24/25 underspend was caused by recruitment delays which meant the newly established secretariat positions and expanded committee roles aimed at strengthening the MAC were filled later than intended.

The majority of the MAC’s increased budget has covered expenditure on salaries. These include:

• The Chair’s remuneration changed part way through FY 24/25 to correspond with changes to the role (moving from 2 days per week to full-time). The full-time remuneration for this revised role is £165,000 per year (plus 20% in lieu of employer pension contributions);
• The Deputy Chair’s remuneration, who from January 2025 is paid £44,985 per year for 1.5 days’ work per week;
• Committee member fees (a rate of £275 per day), with members normally working 2 days per month on MAC business. Members are expected to attend at least 80% of the full meetings held by the MAC each year, with these typically being held once a month;
• Salaries of the MAC Secretariat;
• Administrative costs from specialist staff training and facilities for office space and supplies, conferences, estates, and IT.

Research and publications

Research and development costs covered in Table 1 were incurred for a quantitative survey (carried out by IFF) to inform our Family visa Financial Requirements Review and for data management software.

During this reporting period (2024/25), we also commissioned two external research projects whose costs were drawn from a separate central Home Office programme budget and so are not included in Table 1 above.

These research costs were as follows:

• £12,800 (excluding VAT) was used for a qualitative study carried out by Revealing Reality for our Family visa Financial Requirements Review^{[footnote 1]}; and,
• £15,120 (excluding VAT) was used for a qualitative study carried out by Revealing Reality for our Graduate route Review^{[footnote 2]};

All research was commissioned using the standard Home Office procurement process to ensure it delivers value for money. These studies are published on the MAC website.

In addition, £12,800 (excluding VAT) was utilised for renewing licences for access to labour market data for use across all MAC projects.

Recruitment

In January 2025, in line with the government’s intention to strengthen the MAC, Professor Brian Bell took on his role as MAC Chair on a full-time basis. He will continue in a full-time capacity until the end of his term in August 2026.

In addition, Dr Madeleine Sumption began a new role as Deputy Chair of the MAC for an initial 12 months. In this role, Madeleine has increased her time working for the MAC to 1.5 days per week.

Stakeholder engagement in 2025

This section provides a record of all Committee member stakeholder engagement done in a MAC capacity in 2025 leading up to this report. In addition to the specific engagements listed below, the MAC Secretariat held regular meetings with UK government and Devolved Government colleagues regarding our work.

Date	Meeting	Attendees
14/01/2025	Meeting with Royal Academy of Engineering	Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Secretariat Members
14/01/2025	Meeting with Centre for Policy Studies	Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
15/01/2025	Meeting with Professor Alison Wolf	Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Holly White + Secretariat Members
16/01/2025	Meeting with Jaguar Land Rover	Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Secretariat Members
16/01/2025	Meeting with Second Permanent Secretary for the Home Office, Simon Ridley	Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Dr Madeleine Sumption (Deputy Chair) + Holly White
17/01/2025	Meeting with Kalayaan	Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
20/01/2025	Meeting with Tech Nation	Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Secretariat Members
28/01/2025	Meeting with Dean of London Business School	Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
29/01/2025	MAC review of IT and Engineering Professionals - stakeholder engagement event (external)	Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Holly White + Secretariat Members
30/01/2025	MAC review of IT and Engineering Professionals - stakeholder engagement event (cross-government)	Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Holly White + Secretariat Members
31/01/2025	Meeting with Tata Consultancy Services	Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Secretariat Members
31/01/2025	Meeting with BAE Systems	Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Secretariat Members
03/02/2025	Institute for Government roundtable	Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
03/02/2025	MAC review of IT and Engineering Professionals- Focus group hosted by Prospect	Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Holly White + Secretariat Members
05/02/2025	Meeting with REAL Supply Research Unit	Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
06/02/2025	Meeting with Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR)	Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Holly White + Secretariat Members
10/02/2025	Meeting with Stephen Evans, Learning and Work Institute	Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Secretariat Members
12/02/2025	Meeting with Clare Barclay, Chair of Industrial Strategy Advisory Council (ISAC)	Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Secretariat Members
12/02/2025	Meeting with Balfour Beatty	Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Secretariat Members
13/02/2025	Meeting with Greater Manchester Combined Authority	Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Secretariat Members
14/02/2025	Site visit to National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) and AAC Clyde Space	Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Prof Sergi Pardos-Prado, Prof Jo Swaffield + Secretariat Members
20/02/2025	Meeting with Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Future of Work and Skills Group	Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
20/02/2025	Meeting with Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA)	Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Secretariat Members
26/02/2025	Meeting with Professor John Van Reenen, Chair of Economic Advisory Council	Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
27/02/2025	Oral Evidence for Border Security, Asylum & Immigration Bill Committee	Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
06/03/2025	Meeting with Immigration Law Practitioners Association	Dr Madeleine Sumption (Deputy Chair) + Secretariat Members
10/03/2025	Meeting with Centre for Policy Studies	Dr Madeleine Sumption (Deputy Chair) + Secretariat Members
10/03/2025	Meeting with Professor Katherine Charsley & Professor Helena Wray	Dr Madeleine Sumption (Deputy Chair) + Secretariat Members
11/03/2025	Panel discussion at The PIE Live Europe 2025	Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
12/03/2025	Meeting with Chair, Deputy Chair, and CEOs members of Skills England	Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Holly White
14/03/2025	Family visa financial requirements review roundtable	Dr Madeleine Sumption (Deputy Chair) + Secretariat Members
17/03/2025	Meeting with Scientific Counsellor, French Embassy	Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
17/03/2025	Meeting with Tom Hayes MP	Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
18/03/2025	Meeting with Rolls-Royce	Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Secretariat Members
19/03/2025	Meeting with Glasgow Caledonian University, University of Greenwich and University of Strathclyde	Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Prof Jo Swaffield + Secretariat Members
26/03/2025	Meeting with Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC)	Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Holly White + Secretariat Members
27/03/2025	MAC review of IT and Engineering Professionals - Video games sector roundtable	Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Secretariat Members
31/03/2025	Enroly Conference Presentation	Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
06/05/2025	Meeting with Reunite Families UK	Dr Madeleine Sumption (Deputy Chair) + Secretariat Members
06/05/2025	Meeting with the Industrial Strategy Advisory Council	Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Holly White
07/05/2025	Meeting with Minister for Migration & Citizenship, Seema Malhotra MP	Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Holly White + Secretariat Members
04/06/2025	MAC Cross-Government Stakeholder Forum	Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Prof Dina Kiwan, Prof Jo Swaffield, Holly White + Secretariat Members
04/06/2025	Meeting with Minister for Migration & Citizenship, Seema Malhotra MP	Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Holly White + Secretariat Members
05/06/2025	MAC External Stakeholder Forum	Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Holly White + Secretariat Members
18/06/2025	Centre for European Reform policy brief launch - UK government immigration policy	Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Dr Madeleine Sumption (Deputy Chair)
23/06/2025	Meeting with Office for Budget Responsibility	Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Holly White + Secretariat Members
25/06/2025	Integration, Participation, Opportunity Roundtable, No 10	Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
01/07/2025	Meeting with Unite Students	Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
02/07/2025	Westminster Legal Policy Forum: Next steps for UK immigration policy	Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Holly White + Secretariat Members
21/07/2025	Temporary Shortage List (TSL) review - cross-government sector experts meeting	Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Holly White + Secretariat Members
29/07/2025	Labour Market Evidence Group meeting	Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Holly White + Secretariat Members
30/07/2025	Salaries and TSL reviews - cross-government kick-off meeting	Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Dr Madeleine Sumption (Deputy Chair), Prof Jo Swaffield + Secretariat Members
31/07/2025	Salaries and TSL reviews - external stakeholder kick-off meeting	Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Dr Madeleine Sumption (Deputy Chair) + Secretariat Members
04/08/2025	TSL evidence session with DBT on Advanced Manufacturing sector	Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Dr Madeleine Sumption (Deputy Chair) + Secretariat Members
05/08/2025	TSL evidence session with HMT officials on Financial Services sector	Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Secretariat Members
06/08/2025	TSL evidence session with DESNZ on Clean Energy sector	Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Holly White + Secretariat Members
07/08/2025	TSL evidence session with DCMS officials on Creative Industries sector	Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Secretariat Members
07/08/2025	Meeting with Confederation of British Industry	Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
13/08/2025	TSL evidence session with Office for Life Sciences officials on Life Sciences sector	Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Secretariat Members
13/08/2025	TSL evidence session with DBT officials on Professional and Business Services sector	Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Secretariat Members
14/08/2025	TSL roundtable on critical infrastructure	Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Secretariat Members
18/08/2025	Meeting with Scottish Government Minister for Equalities, Kaukab Stewart MSP	Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
19/08/2025	TSL evidence session with Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) officials on Digital and Technology sector	Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Secretariat Members
28/08/2025	Committee visit to UK Visas and Immigration, Sheffield	Prof Brian Bell (Chair), Dr Madeleine Sumption (Deputy Chair), Prof Jo Swaffield + Holly White + Secretariat Members
02/09/2025	Webinar with Enlighten think tank on immigration	Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
03/09/2025	MAC update on TSL Stage 1 conclusions with ISAC (Industrial Strategy Advisory Council) officials	Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Dr Madeleine Sumption (Deputy Chair)
08/09/2025	Meeting with Kalayaan	Dr Madeleine Sumption (Deputy Chair) + Secretariat Members
09/09/2025	MAC review of Salary requirements, representative organisations roundtable	Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Holly White + Secretariat Members
11/09/2025	Meeting with Foreign, Commonwealth and Development (FCDO) officials	Dr Madeleine Sumption + Secretariat Members
15/09/2025	Make UK Labour Market and Skills Committee	Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
16/09/2025	Meeting with European Network of Migration Councils	Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Secretariat Members
17/09/2025	Meeting with Welsh Government officials, Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Jane Hutt, Trefnydd and Chief Whip + Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning, Rebecca Evans	Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
17/09/2025	MAC review of salary requirements, employer’s roundtable	Dr Madeleine Sumption (Deputy Chair), Prof Jo Swaffield, Holly White + Secretariat Members
18/09/2025	Westminster Higher Education Forum: Next steps for supporting international students in the UK	Dr Madeleine Sumption (Deputy Chair)
22/09/2025	Meeting with Northern Ireland Executive Ministers, Dr Caoimhe Archibald MLA – Minister for the Economy Andrew Muir MLA – Minister of Agriculture, Environment, and Rural Affairs and Mike Nesbitt MLA – Minister of Health	Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Holly White + Secretariat Members
24/09/2025	MAC review of salary requirements, trade unions roundtable	Dr Madeleine Sumption (Deputy Chair), Prof Jo Swaffield, Prof Dina Kiwan, Holly White + Secretariat Members
01/10/2025	Meeting with Sean Jones, Director, HMT	Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Holly White
09/10/2025	Evidence Session on Youth Mobility, UK Trade and Business Commission	Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
20/10/2025	Meeting with Jaguar Land Rover	Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
21/10/2025	Evidence Session at the House of Commons Education Select Committee	Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
22/10/2025	Labour Market Evidence Group meeting	Prof Brian Bell (Chair) + Holly White
23/10/2025	CGD-IPPR Roundtable: UK Migration Policy and the Green Transition	Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
28/10/2025	Meeting with Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Alex Norris MP	Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
04/11/2025	Evidence Session at the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee	Prof Brian Bell (Chair); Dr Madeleine Sumption (Deputy Chair)
05/11/2025	Meeting with Engineering Professors Council	Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
06/11/2025	Meeting with ONS	Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
13/11/2025	Meeting with Minister for Migration and Citizenship, Mike Tapp MP	Prof Brian Bell (Chair)
19/11/2025	Festival of Economics, University of Bristol	Prof Brian Bell (Chair)

MAC publications in 2025

Date	Name of publication
13/05/2025	Net migration report
29/05/2025	Professionals in IT and engineering review
10/06/2025	Family visa financial requirements review
09/10/2025	Temporary Shortage List: Stage 1 report
11/12/2025	Fiscal impact of immigration
17/12/2025	Review of salary requirements

1. The remaining payment is due for 2025/26 financial year. ↩

2. This only reflects cost in the 2024/25 Financial Year. The overall cost for this project was higher as it spanned multiple financial years. ↩