Luke Piper

Looks like he's been reading @samfr.bsky.social latest piece in Observer observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

This is my understanding. But subject to SOC they rely on to sponsor their workers. Guessing it's 6214 (rail travel assistant) because 8231 (train driver) has been excluded for a while? Not my sector so hard to know!

Those with leave pre. 4/4/24 benefit from transitional salary provisions (with a pay increase on renewal but not the £41,700 min.), those after do not, but min. for this cohort and new entrants was £38,700 pre 22/7. This doesn't account for 2yr graduate discounts which is now min. £33,400. Was £25k.

I don't think I've seen that recent in-country switch data! Interesting. The feedback we got from people operating the scheme was that they essentially struggled to place people for reasons beyond reasons of the schemes operation, which you'd expect to see in the market generally.

Not sure if you saw. We did some research on the rematching project for exploited workers and it's not going well and will be unlikely to get better. So Im not sure it's going to be ok for this interim period. www.workrightscentre.org/publications...

UK has closed overseas recruitment of careworkers. Government strategy is to shock the market into increased pay/conditions to drive domestic recruitment + demonise migrants. Sam's piece highlights what a gamble this approach is.

YouTube video by Reunite Families UK RFUK - Overview of the UK's Spouse Partner Migration Policy - The Minimum Income Requirement [MIR]

***Reunite Families UK wins legal costs in case against government***

If you want to live in the UK with your non-Brit partner the British/settled resident must earn a Minimum Income Requirement (MIR) of £29,000. 50% of the workforce don’t earn that. Not even some of the Home Office’s own staff 🧵

I'm pretty astonished at how much it has improved since I last did these sorts of tests. Where it will go next is equally terrifying and exciting. It is NOT the answer to most problems. I'm left worrying for young people and the societal implications if this is the trajectory!

You have to know your area to make use of this technology IMO. Its reasoning was pretty solid but it did involve me shaping/questioning it with my own knowledge. It was more like talking through a problem with a colleague then me getting the answer blindly.

I've done immigration law tests with LLMs during last year. Mainly human rights, appendix EU and skilled worker. A year ago, hopeless. Recently, well. Human rights are easier (good on case law), appendix EU is a no (obv!) but it was able to navigate the 22/7 changes v.well.

An employer trying to pass off people working 7 days a week with no pay and the promise of £5.50 p/h as "volunteering" ends in a sizeable civil penalty being upheld. I was struck/not shocked that it doesn't appear to have progressed to any modern slavery action. Unsurprising but instructive.

There is a misplaced belief that care sector is structured. It's not. Hundreds of providers/contracts, zero hours etc. It is fragmented & budgeted v
tightly. Thousands of people were brought to UK to be carers and ended up displaced in large bcs of this. That MP piece misses this and it's important.

FCDO ‘error’ reveals data on Afghan teacher in hiding from Taliban Details under Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme have been passed to member of the public

I reported on the first known Afghan data breach back in August 2022. Now the British government has put a hundred thousand people's lives at risk. Unimaginable that this would turn out to be on such a scale.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

For people in detention, a heatwave can be even more difficult to deal with. In many of these small cells, windows do not open and there is little to no ventilation. With the stress and uncertainty of indefinite detention, we are concerned about how this heat may harm people held by the Home Office.

Neither have a grasp of how Right To Work checks are conducted and the risks employers face. illustrated by the current obsession and confused debate on ID cards as a solution in the past. The UK has had an ID system for work for years. However gov doesn't record the effectiveness of checks AFAIK

Our latest research is now LIVE 🚨

Following revelations that just 3.4% of exploited care workers got jobs via a £16million government scheme, this research uncovers the systemic barriers that stood in the way of success.

www.workrightscentre.org/publications...

Our report goes live tomorrow. Essential reading for those interested in what is happening to sponsored care workers. We've an event too!!

Northern Ireland went on strike. Just saying.

LBC news coverage of this equally dire focusing on "we don't know where people go when they overstay" side stepping the horrific abuses the sponsorship system enables.

A bizarre / troubling release, only when Medaille Trust get a mention do the words "modern slavery" make an appearance.

"From booking flights to housing the migrants on arrival and providing them with illegal work, the gang provided a full service and charged around £5,000 per person". This is a joke. It's not a service, it's exploitation.

I've seen a few posts on Reddit from some seriously cross people about the changes. Those on student / graduate visas. Completely understandable really.

Yes totally get that. I'm seeing the massive impact on people I'm advising and speaking with so feeling a similar dissonance. The care worker changes were entirely expected but it doesn't really fix the problems I see everyday.

I suspect it is a) gov. said they were going to do this (we now have details) b) it's complicated tables/rules/salary variations etc. c) it's building on what is already a tough system. I am feeling v.bad for students/graduates who will have invested a fortune to find their options diminished.

Plenty done to ensure preventing people from entering the Skilled Worker route but nothing really to help the victims of slavery and exploitation the route has allowed.

Afghan scheme closed immediately and major changes to skilled worker route - statement of changes: HC 997 - Free Movement As trailed in the immigration white paper but mysteriously absent from last week's statement of changes, the skilled worker route is being overhauled with a

Details on the major changes to the skilled worker route have been published. It's concerning to see an impact assessment was not conducted, despite the magnitude of effects on the care sector, care workers and those in need of care.
freemovement.org.uk/afghan-schem...

Not happy about the use of the exploitation of care workers as part justification for route closure without giving some sort of remedy for those who've been conned and stuck in the UK, but that's another matter!

Ye those parts didn't make me recoil. people who've sunk lots of money into student + graduate leave are still a worry given the narrowing of roles and increase on new entrant salary, I suspect impact especially felt especially outside of LDN. Feels brutal for them.

Yes this is my worry. I've spoken to several people mid graduate visa very worried about what comes next. They've already spent thousands on their visas so you can imagine the anxiety.

Yes I had my eye on that NE side of things. I'd say outside our usual caseload of H&C visas + store manager code exploitation, we are getting lots of Q's about NE rates and risks of changes + some people outside of London.