The Professional Contractors Group has welcomed a decision by the government which forbids the use of ICT permits where they will be directly replacing a settled UK worker. John Brazier, managing director of PCG said, “The Government is to be congratulated on taking a tougher line on the ICTs than the MAC recommendations, exactly what PCG has been calling for. This new measure seems to send a clear signal to those abusing the system: replacing highly skilled contractors with ICT workers will no longer be tolerate.”
They were however disappointed with findings from the Migration Advisory Committee’s (MAC) Report on the abuse of the Work Permit system. The committee were tasked to advise ministers on immigration policies. Instead of tightening the rules to limit the use of ICT permits in the recession, the MAC called for stronger enforcement of the current rules. However the Government decided to go one step further.
Intra Company Tranfers (ICTs) were designed to allow movement of specialist staff between global offices of multinational companies without the need to go through the lengthy immigration process. It was reported that companies were exploited this loophole and contractors, particularly in the IT sector were being replaced. Though the MAC failed to recommend a significant tightening of the ICT rules, the body did express concern at abuses. Mr Brazier finally commented, “These additional changes, though welcome, simply do not go far enough. It is certainly true that the Government needs to take a harder line on enforcement, and we strongly urge they do so, but we wanted to see the MAC come up with more specific measures to protect the UK’s freelance workforce. Freelancers are key to the UK’s future economic recovery, and we will continue to campaign hard for more stringent ICT rules.”
