Hospitality Sector Omitted from Additions to SoL List

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has announced measures to tackle immediate labour shor tages in the construction industr y as par t of the Spring Budget 2023

Prior to the Budget the Migration Advisor y Committee (MAC) was commissioned on 7 Februar y 2023 to under take a rapid assessment of the Shor tage Occupation List (SOL) for the construction and hospitality industries however the independent advisor y said it did not recommend the addition of roles within the hospitality sector to the list in an interim repor t

In the repor t, the MAC said it had not received “substantial evidence which proves that shor tage cannot be filled with domestic recruitment”

“For the few hospitality occupations at skill level RQF 3-5 in-scope we do not feel that we have sufficiently clear evidence that these specific occupations are in shor tage , or, that a lower salar y threshold would be sensible ” the repor t said

The MAC had previously considered RQF 3-5 roles in the hospitality sector in the 2020 SOL repor t but did not recommend any addition of occupations from the hospitality sector to the SOL and recommended the removal of Chefs

For the few hospitality occupations at skill level RQF 3-5 in-scope , MAC said “We do not feel that we have sufficiently clear evidence that these specific occupations are in shor tage or that a lower salar y threshold would be sensible As a result, we do not recommend the addition of any occupations in the hospitality sector to the SOL ”

“We again paid par ticular attention to Chefs, as we did in the SOL 2020 repor t Here there is clearer evidence of shor tage , and the occupation is the major user within the hospitality sector of the immigration system We reviewed the evidence that stakeholders provided regarding new training initiatives for chefs and welcome these developments Less positively, there still appears to be little progress in improving terms and conditions, and in par ticular pay growth continues to be driven to a large extent by the statutor y minimum wage It is unclear how the sector foresees sustainable domestic recruitment and retention for this skilled occupation when wages remain so low Overall, the MAC is not persuaded that our decision in 2020 to recommend the removal of Chefs from the SOL should be reversed ”

While the MAC did not suggest any additions to the SOL in relation to hospitality five roles were recommended to be added in relation to the construction industr y The government has accepted these recom- mendations in full

The following roles are expected to be added to the SOL before the summer recess:

5312 (Br ic klayer s and masons)

5313 (Roofer s , roof tiler s and slater s)

5315 (Carpenter s and jo ner s)

5319 (Construction and building trades not elsewhere c lassified)

5321 (Plasterer s)

The addition of these five professions will be advantageous to some licence-holding employers, and businesses in the construction industr y Addition to the shor tage occupation list means that employers will benefit from reduced salar y thresholds and application fees for these shor tage occupation workers

The MAC will conclude a full review of the SOL later this year and will complete regular reviews in the future , to ensure the immigration system is more agile and responsive to business needs The success of this endeavour will largely depend on the government’s willingness to adopt recommendations and only then will businesses see how successfully the government is delivering on its promise to grow the economy