Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the recommendations in the Recruitment & Employment Confederation’s report, Building the Post-Brexit Immigration System, whether the Government plans to exempt SMEs from the immigration skills charge.

The Immigration Skills Charge (ISC), introduced on 6 April, is a charge paid by UK-based employers sponsoring non-EEA nationals under Tier 2, our main immigration work route.

The ISC is designed to incentivise employers to invest in training and upskilling the resident workforce. Income raised by the Charge will be used to address skills gaps in the UK workforce - which will be of benefit to businesses in the long term.

There is a flat rate of £1,000 per Tier 2 migrant sponsored per year but small or charitable sponsors already have a reduced rate of £364 per migrant per year.