The latest immigration statistics released showing a record drop in EU net migration highlight a continuing trend of EU nationals choosing to leave or not relocate to the UK for a more certain future elsewhere, says Sophie Barrett-Brown, Head of the UK Practice at specialist immigration lawyers Laura Devine Solicitors.
Barrett-Brown notes today’s figures, which reveal that the number of EU citizens coming to the UK (220,000) decreased by 47,000 over the last year and is now at a level comparable with 2014. The number leaving the UK (130,000) is the highest recorded level since 2008.
As a result, EU net migration has now returned to the level last seen in 2012. These figures reflect the destabilising uncertainty facing both skilled workers and British employers – particularly as they come just a fortnight after the government said its white paper outlining the post-Brexit immigration models (originally proposed for publication in Autumn 2017) will not be published until a transition deal is agreed.
Sophie Barrett-Brown, Head of the UK Practice at specialist immigration lawyers Laura Devine Solicitors, says: “A further fall in net migration may seem to be good news for those with concerns about immigration, but in reality it underlines a growing skills shortage impacting on businesses and public services. Behind every official statistic showing more workers leaving the UK and fewer arriving, the real story is vacancies unfilled and business potential unrealised. Skilled EU nationals choosing to pursue opportunities outside the UK is not a success story for the UK.
“The biggest concern is the ongoing uncertainty employers face as the Brexit deadline of March 2019 approaches. With government now not due to publish proposals for the post-Brexit migration system until the end of 2018, employers are having to plan for any scenario and a number of businesses have already begun transferring some of their business functions overseas. While this may prove to be unnecessary once the new rules are known, businesses cannot hang around and wait, they have to plan now for the next several years.
“The reduction of EU migrants willing to accept roles in the UK coupled with the Tier 2 cap for employer-sponsored non-EU workers being reached – an event which prior to December 2017 had only occurred once, in June 2015 – employers are under significant pressure to fill their vacancies – with the NHS unable to recruit doctors from overseas to a number of posts. Without substantial innovation in the migration system – particularly to ensure that any new system for EU migrant labour is more adaptive and less restrictive than the current non-EU workers system – then many UK employers may find they are unable to fulfil their business plans.”
(Source: Laura Devine Solicitors)
