Commenting in response to the Migration Advisory Committee review on Tier 2 migration, Policy Chairman at the City of London Corporation, Mark Boleat said:

“The Migration Advisory Committee’s acknowledgement that skilled migrants contribute a great deal to our economic success is welcome news. From simply looking at the City you will see that we thrived over the years in a large part because of our openness to those from abroad who want to come here, work hard and prosper. This basic principle should not change.

“Clearly though the devil is going to be in the detail over how the proposed Immigration Skills Charge is going to work. In addition, while much has been done to address the skills gap of our young workers, particularly in STEM subjects, without constant improvement UK companies will continue to struggle finding the talented staff they so desperately need in sectors like IT and engineering.

“We therefore need to see the competitiveness of the UK economy at the forefront of policymaker’s thinking going forward and will look forward to seeing the Government’s full response in due course.”