Business groups in various industries have expressed their concerns saying massive disruption could lie ahead A draft plan, leaked to the Guardian, revealed that firms would have to recruit locally unless they could prove an “economic need” to employ EU citizens. Additionally, a skills tax could be enforced to boost the training of UK workers if they still chose to employ unskilled EU staff.
However, business groups expressed their concern saying a “sudden” cut could cause “massive disruption”. The National Farmers’ Union, for example, have claimed the “entire food supply chain” could be threatened.
NFU deputy president Minette Batters said: “We are calling for an urgent and clear commitment from government to ensure that farmers and growers have access to sufficient numbers of permanent and seasonal workers post-Brexit.
“And we need clarity on the new rules for EU nationals living and working in the UK well before free movement ends in March 2019.”
The leaked Home Office document has not been signed off by ministers, who will set out their post-Brexit migration plans later this year.
But Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said: “The public voted to leave the European Union. That means freedom of movement has to end.”
He said, “people with the right skills” would still be “welcome”.
But he added: “Equally we have to make sure that British companies are also prepared to train up British workers.
For Prime Minister Theresa May, the referendum result was a clear instruction from the British people that they wanted to reduce the levels of immigration. Politically, therefore, she believes it’s a demand she has to meet.
And as home secretary for six years, when the government continually failed to reach its own immigration target, the new system that will control immigration is finally, perhaps, a chance to meet her own long-missed goal.
Fallon’s message was echoed by Theresa May at Prime Minister’s Questions, who told MPs that immigration had to be cut to ease the pressure on public services, adding that it “often hits those at the lower end of the income scale hardest in depressing their wages”.
The EU has not issued an official response to the leaked document. Unnamed sources have told The Times that the EU would block access to the single market during the transition period the UK wants after Brexit, if it continues with the proposals.
Michael Fallon said the government would take the views of business into account when drawing up its migration policy.
But business groups have hit back at his suggestion that they are using cheap foreign labour rather than training up British workers.
The British Hospitality Association said: “If these proposals are implemented it could be catastrophic for the UK hospitality industry and for those who enjoy the hospitality it brings.”
The BHA claims 75% of waiters, 25% of chefs and 37% of housekeepers in the UK are EU nationals and at least 60,000 new EU workers are needed every year to fill vacancies.
The organisation said it would take 10 years to train up enough British workers to fill the gap and some businesses would fail in the meantime, “taking UK jobs with them”.
Recruiters love this COMPLETE set of Accredited Recruitment & HR Training – View Training Brochure
