Britain to relax immigration controls

LONDON, SEPT. 3. Immigration controls in Britain are to be relaxed for the first time in 30 years to allow up to 100,000 foreign workers a year to settle in the country. The Government has decided to make the most significant changes to the immigration system since 1971 because of a severe skills shortage among British workers.

In 1971 a blanket ban on immigration was introduced, excluding only asylum-seekers and those with relatives in Britain, following racial unrest and high-profile calls for controls. Before the ban, almost anyone was free to apply to enter Britain for economic reasons. In the late 1950s and 1960s there were campaigns in Asia and the Caribbean to recruit public transport and health service staff.

Now, with unemployment at a 20-year low, Ministers believe economic immigration should resume. They argue that it would be hard to retrain the poorly educated, unskilled jobless in sectors such as information technology, engineering and teaching. Ms. Barbara Roche, Home Office Minister, will outline the proposals in a speech at the Institute for Public Policy Research in London soon.

The scheme, likely to be launched in a pilot version from April next year, will allow foreigners to enter Britain on the basis of points awarded for age, education, language skills and family ties. The Home Office will set a maximum quota, probably of 100,000 a year. Priority will be given to people with skills needed in Britain or those with firm job offers. Their right to enter would be assessed on whether their qualifications would enable them find employment and boost the economy. At present, overseas skilled workers offered jobs in Britain can apply for temporary leave to enter the country for work purposes, but that does not confer automatic right to remain.

For three decades, only asylum-seekers or people wanting to join relatives or a spouse have been allowed to settle. The only exception has been made for those setting up a business or entertainers who could prove they had at least œ 250,000 to support themselves.

In March, Mr. Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer, allowed some companies to self-certify that overseas staff were needed, thereby allowing them leave to enter. The Home Office has been studying the points system used in Canada, Australia and America.

There is a backlog of 85,000 asylum-seekers waiting to have their applications processed. They are not allowed to work until they have been given permission to remain, which can take up to two years.

- Telegraph Group Limited, London, 2000

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Section  : International
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