Migration must be ‘properly controlled’, Cooper says ahead of policy reforms

The Home Secretary has said migration “must be properly controlled” with ministers due to lay out sweeping reforms to the immigration system.

The skilled visa threshold will be increased to degree-level and employers will be told they must train workers in the UK, under plans to be presented to Parliament on Monday.

Yvette Cooper has blamed a push for overseas recruitment for high net migration figures in recent years.

The Immigration White Paper is being presented as part of Government efforts to reduce net migration into the UK, with the figure reaching 728,000 in 2024. Net migration is the difference between the number of people moving to a country and those emigrating.

Home Secretary Ms Cooper has said “migration must be properly controlled and managed so the system is fair”.

According to the Home Office, there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages, businesses will be supported to take on more British workers and employers will be told to develop plans to train staff in the UK.

In an attempt to reduce the number of low-skilled workers coming to Britain, the skilled visa threshold will be increased to graduate-level.

Officials will also set up a labour market evidence group to examine which sectors are reliant on overseas workers.

Ms Cooper said: “We’ve seen net migration quadruple in the space of just four years, driven especially by overseas recruitment.

“We inherited a failed immigration system where the previous government replaced free movement with a free market experiment.

“Employers were given much greater freedom to recruit from abroad while action on training fell.

“Overseas recruitment soared at the same time as big increases in the number of people not working or in education here in the UK.”

Official figures show net migration has soared since the UK left the EU in January 2020, reaching a record high of 903,000 in the year to June 2023 before falling back slightly to 728,000 in the following year.

Earlier this week, Downing Street said ministers are “focused on bringing down the last government’s record high levels of migration and tackling the causes behind it”.

Reports in the Times had suggested that among the measures under consideration were plans for migrants to need a higher standard of English to work in the UK.

While the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said he would not “speculate”, he said “proficiency and language and being able to communicate are of course essential parts of integration”.

The Financial Times reported that migrants will be required to wait as long as 10 years before they can apply for indefinite leave to remain in the UK, while there has also been speculation that visa applications from nationalities considered most likely to overstay and claim asylum could be restricted.

Labour pledged a “fair” and “properly managed” immigration system in their election manifesto, but the tougher approach on immigration comes as support for Reform UK grows.

The party, which has positioned itself as tough on migration, won hundreds of local council seats and wrested control of the Runcorn and Helsby parliamentary constituency from Labour in the May 1 elections.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives will try to force a vote at Westminster on capping the number of non-visitor visas that can be issued.

The party is trying to amend the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, which if accepted would give the Government the power to cap visas in line with the country’s needs, and allow them to be revoked if the limit is exceeded.

The Tories are also behind a separate amendment to the same Bill which would look to disapply the Human Rights Act in asylum and deportation cases.

Responding to the Government’s White Paper, shadow home secretary Chris Philp said that “fixing Britain’s migration crisis requires a new radical approach. Labour had the opportunity to do this and have failed”.

He added: “If Labour were serious about immigration, they’d back our binding immigration cap and back our plan to repeal the entire Human Rights Act from immigration matters. But they have got no grip, no guts and no plan.”