The UK is set to introduce a new system for work-based immigration in January 2021. For the first time in decades, the government will apply the same rules on migration to both EU and non-EU citizens. These changes to immigration policy come at a time of extraordinary economic upheaval, as the UK government continues to wrestle with the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, the ongoing recession, and the UK’s departure from the EU single market.
This report assesses the potential implications of the government’s new points-based immigration system and sets out proposals for how the system can support the UK’s economic recovery. We explore how immigration policy can be designed to facilitate the UK government’s ambitions to ‘build back better’ from the coronavirus crisis. Our recommendations focus on how the UK’s immigration system can help create high quality, well paid jobs and enhance working conditions for UK and migrant workers alike.
