Auctioned student and NHS visas among recommendations to tackle immigration
Share:
Student and NHS visas being allocated through an auction process, and a reception centre on Ascension Island, are among the measures the Government should take to help reduce immigration, a new report has suggested. The Policy Exchange paper – written by former Home Office director Stephen Webb – also suggests tougher penalties for people who employ illegal labour or rent to illegal immigrants.
The “why is it so hard getting immigration numbers down” report from the think tank looks at both legal and illegal migration, and proposes a number of suggestions to bring numbers down. In November, figures estimated that net migration hit a record 906,000 in 2023, after numbers were revised up from an initial estimate of 740,000.
The number of migrants arriving in the UK in small boats was also up by a quarter in 2024 on the previous year. Among the recommendations made in the report are allocations for student visas and long-term work visas being allocated through auction processes.
There is a similar suggestion in relation to NHS visas, and a recommendation that the money raised by that auction goes into the health service. It also recommends that ministers should “introduce tougher penalties for those employing illegal labour or renting to illegal immigrants, including granting legal status to illegal migrants who testify against illegal employers or renters”.
