A new immigration system will not be ready by the time we
formally leave the EU, argues a new report. The UK could
therefore be forced to keep the controversial ‘free movement of
people’ for several years post-Brexit.
Published today by the Institute for Government
(IfG), Implementing Brexit: Immigration spells
out the enormity of the task and finds that successful
implementation of a new immigration system by April 2019 is
unfeasible – not just for government, but also employers,
landlords and providers of public services.
But unlike other areas impacted by Brexit, immigration policy can
be decided by the UK alone – there is no ‘cliff-edge’. The report
then recommends that the government keep the current system until
a replacement is ready, avoiding multiple changes.
The report also says the existing process for registering EU
nationals is not fit for purpose. It says if the residency system
isn’t overhauled as a matter of urgency, the government could
need up to 5000 extra civil servants to process applications and
deal with the large number of appeals over the next two years.
Jill Rutter, Brexit Programme Director at the IfG, said:
“The political imperative for change in immigration is
significant, but so is the administrative challenge. The scale of
the task – creating a new immigration system – is huge and it is
critical that Government gets it right. The current process for
dealing with permanent residence applications from EU nationals
is not fit for purpose, as the government itself acknowledged. It
needs to be streamline as a matter of urgency and as a first step
towards a new post-Brexit system.”
Joe Owen, IfG researcher and report author, said:
“Brexit is an opportunity to design an immigration system that is
more effective for the country and less burdensome for employers.
It’s important that the Government avoids making multiple changes
and introducing unnecessary disruption and confusion. To provide
stability, we should continue with the existing migration system
until the new one is ready.”
For more information, please contact Nicole
Valentinuzzi on 07850313791.
ENDS
Notes to editors
- 1. The report can be
found here (post-embargo)
or attached. Further copies available upon request.
- 2. This is the first in a
series of IfG papers on implementing Brexit.
- 3. The Institute for Government
(IfG) is an independent think tank working to make government
more effective
