White Paper will introduce radical reforms to reduce migration

Britain's failed immigration system will be radically reformed so the system is controlled, managed and fair under a landmark White Paper to be published tomorrow (Monday 12 May).  

The government inherited a chaotic immigration system that saw net migration soar to record levels – driven by a huge increase in overseas recruitment since 2020.

The government is now delivering on the priorities of working people to bring down numbers, restore control of Britain's borders and make the system work for the economy.  

The Immigration White Paper will deliver on its manifesto pledge to cut migration by training domestic workers, raising the bar on who can come to the UK and ending reliance on overseas labour.    

It will establish tough new controls to restore order to a failed system that saw net migration almost quadruple to one million between 2019 and 2023.   

New measures mean skills thresholds for work visas will be returned to degree level – reversing a system that saw the proportion of lower-skilled visas issued increase between 2021 and 2024.

Meanwhile the government will end the chronic underinvestment in domestic skills that has hindered economic growth.   

We will support businesses to take on British workers through new industry workforce strategies, while introducing much tighter restrictions on recruitment for shortage occupations.

Employers will first need to develop domestic training plans to boost British skills and recruitment levels – increasing productivity and living standards for working people in the UK.

So migration works for the whole UK, the country will remain open to the best of international talent – enhancing economic growth – while ensuring skilled work for migration purposes must truly mean skilled work.  

The announcement follows major steps the government has already taken to crackdown on those exploiting the system and restoring order to the immigration system – ramping up removals to return 24,000 people with no right to be here since July 2024, the highest rate in eight years.

But this government is going further. The White Paper establishes whole new approaches to migration across a range of areas – including work, study and family life – based on the principles of control, contribution and community cohesion.  

It delivers on the Prime Minister's Plan for Change to reduce the staggeringly high levels of immigration and replace Britain's failing approach with a new plan that supports national security, economic renewal and restoring the confidence of the public. 

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said:   

Migration must be properly controlled and managed so the system is fair. Instead, 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.

The last government lost control of the immigration system and there was no proper plan to tackle skills shortages here at home.  

This has undermined public confidence, distorted our labour market, and been really damaging for both our immigration system and our economy. 

Under our Plan for Change, we are taking decisive action to restore control and order to the immigration system, raise domestic training and skills, and bring down net migration while promoting economic growth.”   

Measures to be set out tomorrow include:   

• Raising the skilled visa threshold to RQF6 (graduate level) to reduce increasing numbers of lower-skilled workers coming to the UK – with salary thresholds reflecting the higher skill level.  

• For occupations below this level, access to the immigration system will be strictly time-limited, granted only on the basis of strong evidence of shortages which are critical to the industrial strategy and where workforce strategies are drawn up so employers also commit to increasing domestic skills and recruitment.  
• Establishing the Labour Market Evidence Group (LMEG) to inform understanding of where sectors are overly reliant on overseas labour and reverse underinvestment in domestic skills. 

For the first time it means that there will be a national approach to ensuring that action on skills, employer strategies and increasing UK workforce participation are the first response to labour market shortages rather than employers simply turning to immigration to fill gaps.

Notes to editors

• The Labour Market Evidence Group (LMEG) will be made up of the Industrial Strategy Council, Department of Work and Pensions, skills bodies and the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) and make recommendations on where workforce strategies are needed.   
• These reforms are just part of government action to restore order, control and fairness to the system, and the full Immigration White Paper will be published in Parliament tomorrow.