CIPD welcomes timely consultation on Migration Advisory Committee

The launch of a Home Office public consultation on a proposed independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) should help underpin a much needed consensus on how best to manage migration flows, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

Dr John Philpott, CIPD Chief Economist, said:

ìThe CIPD has consistently argued that immigration needs to be managed in a way that meets the needs of employers without compromising the wider interests of society by putting excess strain on housing, the environment and other social and economic infrastructure.

ìRecruitment of migrant workers has acted as a safety valve against excessive wage pressure in the jobs market. But the needs of employers and consumers must be balanced by consideration of possible social costs. An independent Migration Advisory Committee would be able to make a reasoned assessment of all the various costs and benefits and is preferable to the more narrowly focused Skills Advisory Committee that ministers had originally proposed.

ìThe CIPD will in due course make a formal submission to the Home Office on this proposal and is ready to support all related efforts to ensure that migration is managed in a way that aids employers while also promoting the common goodî