TheCityUK: Brexit provides an opportunity to evolve trade and migration policy
As the UK readies for Brexit there is a unique opportunity to transform trade and migration policy, the leading City lobbying firm has said.
In a joint report with EY, TheCityUK has set out proposals to evolve the UK’s decades-old trade and migration policy which could “deliver real benefits to the economy”.
TheCityUK makes it clear that one of the biggest risks the UK faces is bot being ambitious enough and missing the opportunity for more creativity in this area.
The report focuses on how important this is for financial services, the UK’s largest net exporting sector, which relies on non-UK talent for 28 per cent of its workforce.
Recent research finds that 38 per cent of EU nationals currently working in finance would not have qualified under the system had it been in place when they arrived.
The lobbying body has called for increased certainty for businesses around short-term travel. TheCityUK states that in free-trade agreements the UK should “focus on the form of commitments” in the area of short-term business visits and include a granular list of activities that are allowed.
It also recommends a hybrid short-term category to allow “productive work” which would see a new immigration route that combines the controls associated with sponsorship with the flexibility of visitor routes.
Miles Celic, TheCityUK’s chief executive said: “Innovations in domestic immigration policy over recent months have moved at lightning speed. Previously unthinkable changes were delivered overnight, including automatic visa extensions for essential workers, scrapping switching rules and new virtual rights to work.
“Two areas where the UK should now seek to be innovative and collaborative are trade agreements and migration policy. But to do this, significant gaps remain that need to be tackled, otherwise roles vital for the UK economy and supporting global trade will be left unfilled. Mobility agreements with trading partners, well publicised to UK businesses and backed by detailed implementation, will be critical to helping to address these gaps.”