Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if his Department will take steps to prevent recruitment firms advertising for jobs exclusively abroad before they have advertised locally.

The Government amended the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 in January 2015 and further in May 2016, to require employment agencies and employment businesses to advertise both specific and generic roles in English, in Great Britain, at the same time or up to 28 days before advertising in another European Economic Area (EEA) Member State.

For skilled workers from outside the EEA, the Immigration Rules already incorporate a resident labour market test (with exemptions for some roles). This requires the recruiter to place two adverts in the UK for 28 days to ensure that there are no suitable workers already in the UK, before a visa can be obtained for the worker.