IMMIGRANT POINTS TO START NEXT YEAR
Curbs on unskilled workers
By Oonagh Blackman Political Editor 19/04/2007
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ONLY migrant workers with skills needed in the UK will be allowed to enter Britain in the New Year.
Immigration Minister Liam Byrne revealed the timetable for a points-based system copied from Australia to curb the flow of migrant workers.
And in the most frank admission from a Government minister yet on immigration, he admitted it had damaged poor communities and "deeply unsettled the country".
In a report on Rethinking Immigration and Integration, he said large-scale migration has put a huge strain on schools, health and housing.
He added: "We also have to accept that laissez-faire migration risks damaging communities where our anti-poverty strategies come under pressure.
"When a junior school sees its population of pupils with English as a second language rise from five to 20 per cent in a year, then boosting standards in our poorest communities gets harder."
In a warning to Labour, he also said failure to have controls will cost votes.
Labour MPs are being swamped by complaints from constituents blaming migrant workers for keeping wages down, taking up social housing and adding to pressures in local schools.
The new points system aims to keep out migrants who will compete with British workers for unskilled jobs. It a will replace more than 80 routes of entry to the UK, with five tiers for workers with different levels of skills.
Tier 1, will cover highly-skilled migrants, such as scientists and entrepreneurs, and comes into force in 2008.
It will be followed later in the year by tiers for workers such as nurses, teachers and engineers and for temps and young people on working holidays.
Would-be migrants will be awarded points for aptitude, experience and age as well as the level of need in a sector.
A £20million network of Border and Immigration Agency officers will be making the checks, though there are doubts that immigration officers will be able to cope with the workload.
And the Government is already under pressure over high numbers of illegal immigrants and the low numbers being removed from the country. Mr Byrne said: "Migration has to support our national interests. It will be simpler, clearer and easier to enforce."
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