Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the criteria are for appointment to the Migration Advisory Committee.

Appointments to the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) are made in line with the Governance Code on Public Appointments: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/governance-code-for-public-appointments.

The Home Secretary is responsible for agreeing the criteria, and this will depend on the skills and experience required for each competition. The most recent appointment competition for the MAC listed the following criteria:

Essential criteria

• Experience of committee membership, or board level experience within commerce, or non-academic sectors.
• Ability to provide clear and specific advice, independent of government or industry.
• A good communicator with sound judgement.
• Senior business leader with understanding and experience of using the UK immigrations system

Desirable criteria

• A good understanding of the UK labour market and immigration system, particularly for economic migrants.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to represent the MAC in public forums, such as at engagement events.