increasing the Tier 2 (General) minimum salary threshold of £20,800 and the Tier 2 (ICT) minimum salary thresholds of £24,800 for the short-term category and £41,500 for the long-term category to a level that better aligns with the salaries paid to highly-specialised experts or individuals filling skills shortages skilled to NQF level 6 or higher increasing the Tier 2 minimum salaries per occupation for experienced workers from the 25th percentile to the 50th or 75th percentiles, or other appropriate measure increasing the Tier 2 minimum salaries per occupation for new entrant workers from the 10th percentile to the 25th or 50th percentiles, or other appropriate measure The call for evidence sets out the questions on which the MAC seeks views and evidence from partners as well as how to respond. As the government has asked the MAC for early advice on the salary thresholds aspect of the Tier 2 commission, the closing date for responses to be received by the MAC is at 12:00 midnight, Friday 3 July 2015. A very tight time scale to allow any changes to meet the Autumn Immigration Rules changes. A second call for evidence, relating to the wider review of Tier 2, will then be published around late June/early July 2015. This call will run until September 2015. In order to allow partners additional time to prepare, a summary description of the Tier 2 commission is included in the salary thresholds call for evidence.
Immigration Bill to create a consistent experience for taxpayers 3 August 2015
As part of the new Immigration Bill, all public sector staff working in customer-facing roles will be required to speak fluent English.
The new legislation, to be introduced in September, will mean that all public sector organisations must ensure that staff can communicate effectively with the public, to what is expected to be at least ‘level 2’ – equivalent to a C or above at GCSE. This requirement would increase, depending on the nature of the role and profession. Doctors, for example, are already required to have a much higher level of English. Organisations including the NHS, armed forces and state-funded schools will all be bound by a new code of practice which will be produced following a consultation in the autumn. The legislation and code of practice will apply to both existing and new employees working in public- facing roles.
New language requirements have already been brought in for migrants, but will be the first time there has been a co-ordinated approach to enforcing fluent English across the public sector.
Read the full press release from the Cabinet Office.
Biometric Residence Permit rollout now complete 25 August 2015
Since 2008, the Home Office has been phasing in the Biometric Residence Permit (BRP), which replaces a range of older less secure immigration documents and provides a simple and secure means of checking a migrant’s identity and right to work. The roll out of the BRP has now been completed. From now the BRP will be the only document issued to non- European Economic Area (EEA) migrants permitted to stay in the UK for more than six months under the UK’s Immigration Rules. Non-EEA migrants who register with the Home Office as exercising European Union (EU) treaty rights as family members of EU nationals will receive a Biometric Residence Card (BRC), which closely resembles the BRP. The BRP and the BRC are single credit card sized documents and allow migrant workers from outside the EEA to evidence their right to enter or remain in the UK. The BRP only applies to migrants from countries outside the European Economic Area, their partners and children. The BRP shows the worker’s digital photograph, biographical data (name, nationality and date of birth), any immigration conditions or restrictions, and the date the person’s permission to remain expires on the face of the card. This information is replicated digitally on a chip in the card, together with the holder’s fingerprints.
CIPP Policy News Journal
25/04/2016, Page 48 of 453
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