Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the life sciences sector can continue to access highly-skilled overseas workers after the UK leaves the EU.

We have commissioned the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to advise on the economic and social impacts of the UK’s exit from the EU and also on how the UK’s immigration system should be aligned with a modern industrial strategy.

The Government will want to ensure that decisions on the long-term arrangements are based on evidence. The commission that we have asked the MAC to undertake is very much part of this. The MAC are due to publish their final report by September 2018.