Keir Starmer has announced plans to link the sponsorship of migrant workers with the training of the UK’s domestic labour force – the path to achieving this might be hiding in plain sight…
Keir Starmer has announced plans to publish a white paper, proposing to link the ability to sponsor migrant workers to the training of “people here in our country”. The Prime Minister has said that the Migration Advisory Committee are already conducting reviews to identify those sectors which are over-reliant on immigration, promising to “reform the points-based system and make sure that applications for the relevant visa routes, whether it’s the skilled worker route or the shortage occupation list, will now come with new expectations on training people here in our country.”
This language echoes the Prime Minister’s rhetoric on immigration, which has remained much the same since before the 2024 General Election. Mr Starmer has called for skills shortages to be addressed domestically through improved training and opportunities, and thereby, in theory, reduce reliance on immigration for skilled labour. In this latest announcement, Mr Starmer appears to be calling for a direct link between the training of domestic workers and the hiring of migrant workers on certain routes – making the latter conditional on the former – though there is currently little detail on how he proposes to do this.
Arguably, however, there already is – or should be – a link between sponsoring migrant workers and contributing towards the upskilling of domestic workers – the Immigration Skills Charge.
What is the Immigration Skills Charge?
The Immigration Skills Charge (ISC) is a fee that employers must ordinarily pay when they sponsor migrant workers on the Skilled Worker or Global Business Mobility routes.
There are some exceptions – for example, in the case of some EU nationals sponsored under the Global Business Mobility – Senior or Specialist Worker route, or certain occupation codes.
How is the ISC charged?
The ISC is charged per sponsored worker and depends on the size of the employer and the length of the worker’s visa. Large and medium-sized employers are charged £1,000 per worker per year of their visa, with a lower annual charge of £364 for small businesses, charities, and universities. For example, if a medium-sized business sponsors a migrant worker for their 5-year visa application, the ISC would amount to £5,000 (£1,000 x 5 years).
Employers must pay the full amount of the ISC upfront when assigning a Certificate of Sponsorship to the migrant worker – ordinarily, shortly before the visa application is submitted.
Employers are also strictly prohibited from attempting to recoup the ISC from sponsored workers, whether upfront or as part of a clawback or repayment arrangement. Attempting to recover the cost of the ISC may result in an employer losing its sponsor licence.
In the event that a migrant worker leaves their sponsor employer prior to the expiry of their visa (regardless of whether the employment relationship is terminated by the employer or employee), then the employer will usually receive a partial refund of the ISC – though there are often delays in the processing of these.
The missing link?
The ISC was introduced in April 2017, with the stated intention of reducing employers’ reliance on migrant workers (sound familiar?). This came following a 2015 review by the Migration Advisory Committee, which concluded that raising the cost of sponsoring migrant workers would incentivise employers to invest in UK workers instead.
Since its implementation, the ISC has raised around £1.5 billion in revenue, with this figure increasing as fees continue to rise. This revenue is allegedly allocated towards funding training and apprenticeships in the UK – though there is currently little transparency as to where exactly this money is being invested.
Given that the apparent purpose of the ISC is to deter sponsorship and thus encourage the upskilling of domestic workers, one might assume that the money raised would also be dedicated towards this upskilling. If the UK Government were to ringfence the ISC revenue pot and transparently assign the whole of this towards training British workers in skills shortage areas, then that might go some way to realising Mr Starmer’s goal of linking sponsorship with the upskilling of the domestic labour force – without the need for any political theatre or complicated policy.
If you would like any assistance with sponsoring migrant workers or applying for a work visa, please get in touch at [email protected]
