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1240/5(4399)
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR HOUSING BY DEPUTY G.P. SOUTHERN OF ST. HELIER
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 31st MARCH 2009
Question
"Will the Minister inform members how he intends to meet the stated target of limiting inward migration to 200 heads of households (420 in total) given the figures for the numbers of J' category applicants, showing totals of 498 and 523 approvals (and only around 60 refusals) in 2007 and 2008?
What consideration, if any, has been given to new criteria for new approvals or is the Minister relying on the recession to reduce recruitment and thereby requests?
What policy, if any, will he apply and at what level following the end of any recession in, for example, 2 years' time?"
Answer
By nature, 1(1)(j) employees tend to be highly skilled and highly mobile, and therefore it is somewhat spurious to link gross approvals with net inward migration.
The Strategic Plan proposals relate to net inward migration of 200 heads of households per year, and is a 5 yearly measure designed to ensure that migration can be managed over the economic cycle. As to 1(1)(j) employees, while it is correct that 498 applications were approved in 2007, the numbers working in the private sector in Jersey increased by just 100 in that same year, and this was a particularly buoyant year economically. Manpower figures for 2008 are due in April, but it is expected that net changes will be significantly lower than the gross numbers quoted. By way of comparison, 2009 is showing 1(1)(j) approval numbers down by around a quarter and there is some expectations of numbers continuing to reflect the changing economic conditions.
As to the ability to manage numbers, these mechanisms are by definition flexible, and have coped well for decades though successive States targets and varying economic conditions, and will continue to do so.
Furthermore, through the creation of the Population Office and Migration Advisory Group we now have a new opportunity to apply the 1(1)(j) permissions and the non locally qualified licences under the Regulation of Undertakings and Developments Law in wholly co-ordinated and pragmatic manner, to suit the economic climate, and to meet over the medium term whatsoever targets to States approve.