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Fish Friers

British Takeaway Campaign comments on Home Affairs Select Committee report on immigration system

Article Date: 2018-01-15

The British Takeaway Campaign, an umbrella group representing those involved in the supply and preparation of the nation’s favourite foods, today (Monday) commented on the Home Affairs Select Committee report.

Ibrahim Dogus, Chair of the British Takeaway Campaign, said:

"Takeaway restaurants are the backbone of the British high street, contributing £9.4bn to the economy and supporting over 231,000 jobs – they need an immigration system which enables them to access the skills they need in order to continue to thrive.

"The Home Affairs Committee’s focus on upskilling the domestic workforce is welcome, but with over a third of takeaways currently experiencing skills shortages the Government needs to recognise it will take time to build up a pipeline of home-grown talent.

"In the meantime, an immigration strategy that simply focuses on high skilled migrants will hamper the sector’s ability to continue to grow.That’s why the BTC is calling for the development of a long-term immigration system that does not discriminate between EU and non-EU migrants, and instead prioritises skills and sector shortages. This needs to go hand in hand with investment in high-quality vocational training.”

Among the measures the BTC is calling for in its submission to the Migration Advisory Committee are for the Government to:

  • Revise the Shortage Occupation List to include specialist chefs in shortage cuisines that work in takeaways
  • Ensure that limits on free movement are kept to a minimum and are focused on areas of skill shortage
  • Create a Business Visa, providing low skilled migrants with a 12-24 month visa – binding them by contract to an employer, with scope to review after the original employment period
  • Provide support and incentives to the takeaway industry to invest in training employees locally
  • Develop a long-term immigration system that does not discriminate between EU and non-EU migrants, and instead prioritises skills and sector shortages.

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