Migration Advisory Committee minutes, 17 March 2023
Updated 8 December 2023
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Migration Advisory Committee
2nd Floor, Peel Building NE
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF
Minutes of the 161st meeting of the Migration Advisory Committee
Friday 17 March 2023, 11am to 1:30pm
Hybrid conference
Attending
- Professor Brian Bell
- Professor Dina Kiwan
- Professor Sergi Pardos-Prado
- Madeleine Sumption
- Professor Jo Swaffield
- Matthew Leng
- Toby Nutley
- MAC Secretariat
Apologies
- Della McVay
Agenda item 1 – Welcome and introductions
- Brian Bell opened the meeting and welcomed the attendees.
Agenda item 2 – Home Office, MAC Secretariat and MAC updates
2. Matthew Leng thanked the committee and secretariat for their work on the expedited Shortage Occupation List (SOL) review and updated on the media response. He also provided information on wider policy developments in the UK migration space.
3. Toby Nutley updated the committee on staffing changes within the secretariat as well as future recruitment. He also provided information on the progress of the full SOL review.
Agenda item 3 – Interim SOL – lessons learnt
4. The secretariat introduced the lessons learnt session.
5. There was a reflection on the sectoral/occupational approach taken in the interim SOL and where the correct level of analysis lay, as well as the appropriateness of using different types of data.
6. There was a discussion around public value and how it should be defined, who should define it, and whether the government had/could set out sectors of strategic importance.
Agenda item 4 – Full SOL – stakeholder engagement and skeleton
7. The secretariat clarified the direction for the full SOL. There was discussion on how best to engage with the Devolved Nations, and the potential structure of any interim SOL report. Initial allocations for committee leads for the SOL were suggested. The secretariat also updated the committee on stakeholder engagement so far as well as the specifics of Devolved Nations engagement. SOL timelines were also discussed.
Agenda item 5 – Seasonal Workers – plans for sample structure, CfE
8. The secretariat introduced the item and began by discussing how best to engage with DEFRA and other stakeholders. There was discussion on topic guides and the nature and ease of gathering geographical data.
9. The secretariat began the discussion on a Call for Evidence. Committee discussed the merits of different types of questions in a CfE, sample sizes and issues of self-selection.
Agenda item 6 – Annual report – skeleton
10. The secretariat introduced the section. The committee made suggestions for the content of the report, discussing their priorities.
Agenda item 7 – Health and Social Care use of immigration system for annual report – skeleton
11. The secretariat introduced the section and asked if the committee was happy with the chapter structure as it stood. There was discussion on international comparisons and relative health spending. Analysis on recruitment from ‘red list’ countries was noted, as well as workforce planning and overall levels of immigration in the sector. The committee suggested an angle on Devolved Nations would be useful.
Agenda item 8 – AOB
12. Brian thanked all members of the secretariat for their extra efforts to deliver current workstreams at pace, and finally thanked those who were leaving and wished them luck.