Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (Hansard, 5 January 2004)

§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal)
My Lords, since the Government launched the highly skilled migrant programme on 28 January 2002, there have been 5,570 successful applications up to 31 December 2003. Of those, 64 have been issued to general practitioners and dentists.

§ Baroness Gardner of Parkes
My Lords, I thank the Minister for that Answer. Will she explain the exact position of the people who come under that scheme? The notes for applicants have now been extended to 27 pages and are very good indeed. They were updated in October following modifications to the scheme. I notice the notes state that if you are applying from inside the UK, you have to complete a document which confirms, that you can support yourself and your family in the UK without using public funds during your stay". Why would that apply only to people who are coming from inside the UK?
A related point is that if you are coming from outside the UK, your spouse or partner must come with you. However, if your spouse or partner is already granted residence in the UK, that rules you out. I do not understand that. Paragraph 7.6.5 states: Your spouse or partner must accompany or join you in the UK. In addition your spouse or partner must not already have been granted…permanent residence in the UK". Will the Minister indicate whether people who come from outside are automatically entitled to benefits as soon as they arrive? If not, what follow-up is there in those cases and why the difference?

§ Baroness Scotland of Asthal
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for her complimentary comments about the document. I hope that I shall be able to answer the number of questions that she has asked.
Applicants are not entitled to public funds; that is, income support, jobseeker's allowance, housing and homelessness assistance, housing benefit and council tax benefit. They are not entitled to them because it is intended that they should be self-sufficient and 8 economically viable. At the end of the 12-month period, they have to apply for an extension if they wish. On that application form, they have to demonstrate that they have been economically active during that time or have taken reasonable steps to become economically active. I can reassure the noble Baroness that, during the two years the scheme has been operating, of the 5,570 people who have been granted leave, only one has not proven to the department's satisfaction at the end of 12 months that he was economically active and self-sufficient.

§ Baroness Trumpington
My Lords—

§ Lord Avebury
My Lords, does the noble Baroness have the information about the number of people with health skills who are waiting to be considered as asylum seekers? Why are they not eligible for the programme? In the old days, when it was administered by the DfES, they used to be so eligible.
Will the Minister also indicate whether proper consideration is being given to the denuding of health workers from countries where their skills are severely needed? Those countries include South Africa, which provides so many of the people in our hospitals today.

§ Baroness Scotland of Asthal
My Lords, the programme differs markedly from that which applies to those who seek to come to this country as asylum seekers. It is obviously open to any individual who falls within the highly skilled migrant programme to apply under that scheme. The individual employment migration route for highly skilled migrants to come to the UK is to seek work or to pursue self-employment opportunities. Those who fall within that category are usually perfectly capable of being economically self-sufficient.
On the denuding of help, it is important to acknowledge that the largest number of applicants comes from the United States of America. We have received 991 applications from the US. We are not denuding other countries, but we do believe that there are real benefits for migrants who wish to come to this country and to share their skills with us, not least because many of them hone those skills, develop them and then take them home.

§ Baroness Trumpington
My Lords—

§ Viscount Bridgeman
My Lords, will the Minister comment on concerns expressed by certain immigrant organisations that highly skilled migrant workers may deprive other countries of much needed skilled workers?

§ Baroness Scotland of Asthal
My Lords, I think that I answered that question a moment ago. Such applicants are entitled to come to this country. We all 9 believe in the free movement of people. That is their democratic right. Many of those who come here hone their skills and take them home, having sent a plentiful supply of money in the interim. That benefits the countries from which they came.

§ Lord Burnham
My Lords, what percentage—

§ Baroness Trumpington
My Lords, happy new year to everybody. The valuable and helpful notes for those people who are hoping to take advantage of the scheme state: The scoring area is for General Practitioners (GPs) only and is not open to Veterinary Surgeons or Dentists"; nor is it open to nurses, particularly highly skilled nurses. Why is there a difference?

§ Baroness Scotland of Asthal
My Lords, under the scoring system, one automatically receives 50 points for being a GP. One has to score 65 points overall. Noble Lords will know that there is a real need for highly skilled general practitioners and doctors generally. We have made the criteria sufficiently clear so that anyone who falls within the professions that the noble Baroness has identified should be able to meet those criteria if he has the necessary skills. We do not consider that to be an impediment. Indeed, since we changed the rules, the number of monthly applications has risen from an average of 70 to about 250. I shall check those figures and come back to the noble Baroness.