The Migration Advisory Committee
The information in this section is produced by the Committee's Secretariat. The Secretariat is independent to the Border and Immigration Agency.
The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) will provide independent, transparent and evidence-based advice to government on where labour market shortages exist that can sensibly be filled by migration. It will underpin the new points based system for migration to the United Kingdom by advising on which occupations should be designated as shortage occupations. The Government may, from time to time, also ask the MAC to advise on other matters relating to migration.
The intention to set up the MAC was first announced in March 2007 following a successful public consultation which showed overwhelming support for having a new independent committee with 89% of respondents in favour.
The committee is made up of five economists and two ex-officio members.
The MAC met for the first time on 7 December 2007.
Government responds to Migration Advisory Committee's recommended shortage occupation lists
On 11 November 2008, the Government announced its response to the Migration Advisory Committee's recommended shortage occupation lists for the United Kingdom and Scotland, submitted in September 2008.
Chairman of the Migration Advisory Committee, David Metcalf, said: 'We are pleased that the Government has agreed to implement our full recommended shortage occupation list. We will continue to review any evidence and update the list if necessary.'
In addition to accepting the Committee's list, the Government has decided that social workers will continue to be on the list for a transitional period while the Committee reviews the evidence on them. This evidence was not submitted to the Committee in time for its first report.
Between now and March 2009 the Committee will be specifically reviewing some occupations to consider whether, and on what terms, they should be included on future shortage occupation lists. This is a combination of occupations that the Government has asked them to consider and those which the Committee's previous work identified as priorities. For further information see the full list of occupations to be reviewed.
Recommended new shortage occupation lists for Scotland and the UK published 9 September 2008
Today the Migration Advisory Committee publishes its first recommended shortage occupation lists for the UK and Scotland for use alongside the launch of Tier 2 of the new points-based system for immigration. These lists comprise skilled occupations where, in the Committee's view, there are shortages that can sensibly be filled by enabling employers to recruit migrants from outside the European Economic Area (EEA). The lists form part of a detailed report setting out how the Committee arrived at its recommended lists.
The Committee first met in December 2007. Following that, in the lead up to this publication the Committee published interim reports outlining its intended approach to determining which occupations should be on the shortage occupation lists. The Committee issued, through its February report, a call for evidence and carefully considered the responses it received. The Committee also undertook a detailed programme of additional evidence gathering activities, including visits to every region and the country of the UK. This was underpinned by detailed and comprehensive statistical analysis of the UK labour market.
This report draws together over eight months of detailed work, but this is not the end of the story. The Committee will continue to review the list and are open to receiving evidence at any time. Evidence submitted by stakeholders is an important element of the evidence base on which the Committee is working. We therefore encourage stakeholders to contact us to submit evidence where it is believed that an occupation should be included, or not included, on the shortage occupation lists.