Tories ‘to rethink’ immigration

The Conservatives have promised an extensive review of their party’s immigration policy. Hoping to find the right answers to the UK’s immigration needs, the Tories propose set quotas on managed migration numbers and the removal of fees on A8 worker registration scheme applications. Furthermore, the party’s pledge to introduce annual quotas on asylum seekers is being reviewed.

In the party’s search for the right policies for Britian, the Conservative party wants the fees for the Worker Registration Scheme scraped. Evasion of the system by workers seeking low-skilled employment is a problem, hiding the true number of A8 nationals who have travelled to the UK for work. Data suggests that up to 150,000 migrants from the A8 countries are currently employed in the fresh produce industry and the agriculture industry, which is almost 3 times the figures that are based on Worker Registration Scheme sign-ups. Furthermore, workers who are paid through self-employment structures do not have to register under the current scheme.

The current system requires nationals for the accession countries to pay a fee to register with the UK Border Agency. This allows them to work in the UK for 12 months. After this period, if the A8 national has maintained employment, they are then able to exercise treaty rights without registering further or renewing their registration. The A8 countries which acceded to the EU in May 2004 include Latvia, Slovenia, Poland, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania and Slovakia.

Without a Worker Registration Scheme fee, which is currently £70, the Tories believe that more A8 nationals will register, revealing more accurate figures on immigration from Eastern Europe.