How many work permits granted to the financial, legal and medical private sectors in 2010

1240/5(6443)

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE CHIEF MINISTER BY DEPUTY G.P. SOUTHERN OF ST. HELIER ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 5th JULY 2011

Question

Further to his response to my question (6371) on 7th June 2011 on the 178 work permits granted to the financial, legal and medical private sectors in 2010, will the Chief Minister ascertain from the relevant Minister what the duration of these permits was and whether they were replacement or new posts, and how many dependants were attached?

Will he further state how many J-category permits were granted in these sectors and in the private sector overall in 2010 and state how the combined numbers match his migration target of 150 heads of households?

Will he further state what the equivalent figures for the period 2007 – 9 were? Answer

The 178 work permits granted to these sectors in 2010 include figures for employees in the Public Service, notably within the Health and Social Services Department, and not just the private sector.

Permits may be issued for a maximum period of 3 years in the first instance, with the exception of Doctors employed by Health and Social Services where a period of employment not exceeding 5 years may be authorised. The duration of work permits issued in 2010 varied from between 2 days and 5 years depending on the type of role being filled by a work permit holder.

Information is not specifically collected by the Customs and Immigration Service to confirm whether these posts were replacement, or new. Hence, the contribution to the net inward migration target of the net change in the number of holders of work permits and their dependents, which may be numerically positive (inward) or negative (outward), is not accessible from currently available administrative sources.

All work permit holders are also required to be in compliance with housing regulations, which means that J-category figures include a number of work permit holders, i.e. that you cannot simply add the number of the number of work permits to the number of 1(1)(j)s issued.

Applications for persons seeking to enter as the dependant of a work permit holder are assessed against immigration (visa) rules as opposed to work permit rules. Work permit holders may be accompanied to Jersey by their dependants only where a work permit is issued for a period of 12 months or more.

It has not been possible, due to the length of time it would take to collate the information, to answer Deputy Southern 's specific question on work permit dependants for those permits issued during 2010. However, information on the number of work permit holders and their dependants, who were living in Jersey on 31 December 2010, was provided in response to a written question to the Minister for Home Affairs by Deputy Le Claire (1240/5(5976)), tabled on 1st February 2011. For ease of reference these figures are repeated below.

307 1(1)(j) permissions were granted in 2010 for employees in the financial, legal and medical sectors, some of which were also on work permits. In 2010, however, the total number of 1(1)(j) employees in the private sector in Jersey decreased by 30 (as recorded in the Labour Market Report published by the Statistics Unit).

This illustrates that turnover in 1(1)(j) employees is high, and that numbers approved cannot be taken in any way to be reflect of changes in population, as so many leave each year. Indeed, this is the nature of career progression in many aspects of the finance industry given its international nature.

Prior year figures are as follows:

The net decrease in the number of 1(1)(j) employees in private sector employment in 2010 constitutes a numerically negative (i.e. outward) component of total net migration for that year.