Published on: May 15, 2025 at 9:31 AM
The ‘Restoring Control over the Immigration System’ white paper, published this week, has strong messages about the growing importance of robust and effective skills systems in the UK.
Energy & Utility Skills continues to work with the Government, calling for flexible, clear, and employer-validated skills systems that can support members’ workforce demands, offer good jobs with clear access routes to people across the UK, and boost businesses and the UK’s economic growth.
The white paper’s proposals for more effective skills systems will be of interest across the energy and utilities sector. The paper will be added to the discussions at the next Skills and Education Policy Forum, and the forthcoming network group meetings: Energy & Utilities Careers & Jobs Steering Group on 4th June; Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy Group on 5th June; NSAP Strategy Group on 11th June; NSAG Strategy Group on 2nd July (TBC); Water Industry Skills Group on 9th July.
A summary of the key messages about skills in the white paper is below. If you would like to discuss any of these points further, please contact carl.jordan@euskills.co.uk or grace.storey@euskills.co.uk.
1 – Linking migration and domestic skills provision
The immigration policy reforms in the white paper collectively seek to link legal migration to up-skilling the UK workforce, ensuring that employers and education providers are held to account for domestic training, and redirecting funding from visa fees into domestic skills provision.
The white paper repeatedly makes a link between rises in immigration visa applications and the long-term drop in apprenticeship numbers – particularly in engineering occupations.
These measures present an opportunity to ensure that any increased funding available for skills provision is directed to key sectors in order to help meet the demands that our research has identified. They also strengthen the line through which sector employers can influence training provision.
Taken in the round, the proposed measures can facilitate stronger links between the skills demands of people who are not currently in the workforce, and those who are looking to change and progress their careers, with skills provision, and support the sectors growing demands for new entrants, up-skilling and re-skilling. The measure should support work to reduce the number of young people classified as NEET (not in employment, education or training), and offer more opportunities for people to enter good jobs and careers in a sector whose success underpins Net Zero and substantial economic growth and which is key to the new Government’s missions.
2 – Raising the thresholds for the definition of skilled workers
The minimum skill level for applications for Skilled Worker visas will be raised back to Regulated Qualification Framework (RQF) Level 6, which is degree level, or above, and higher salary thresholds than those currently in place will also be applied.
The current level for the Skilled Worker visa is RQF Level 3 (A Level and equivalents).
This change may boost opportunities for training provision to adapt to deliver skills at Level 3 to meet demands that could previously have been met via immigration. Where training provision is directed to achieve this, it will be important that the provision is to employer-validated standards supported by clear access and progression routes.
The ‘Immigration Salary List Discounts’ that currently exists are set to be abolished so that “skilled must mean skilled.”
3 – A new Temporary Shortage Occupation list
A time-limited ‘Temporary Shortage List’ is to be created for occupations below RQF Level 6.
Only those roles that are on the new list, in sectors where a credible robust domestic workforce strategy (see point 4) exists will have access to the Points-Based System that is used to determine eligibility
The intention, for those sectors to which this proposal applies, is that effective domestic skills provision can be planned and developed so that there is reducing reliance on immigration to fill roles.
4 – Workforce strategies and labour market evidence
Key sectors will be required to publish and implement formal workforce strategies before recruiting overseas.
A new Labour Market Evidence Group (LMEG) will be established to draw on real-time workforce data and advise whether migration or other policy levers should apply.
The LMEG will consist of:
- the Industrial Strategy Advisory Council, who are encouraged to focus on domestic recruitment and training
- the Department for Work and Pensions, (DWP) tasked with reducing economic inactivity and increasing workforce participation
- Skills England and equivalent organisations in the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which will target training needs
- the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) which will guide immigration policy
Energy & Utility Skills is continuously engaged in research with members and has robust data on workforce dynamics, projections and skills shortages. This data is already acknowledged by government and supports our workforce strategy going forward. We will continue to engage closely with Skills England, DWP and the MAC to ensure that the sector’s workforce needs are understood.
5 – Incentivising domestic upskilling
The proposals in the white paper include exploring options on how to restrict employers from sponsoring new Skilled Worker visas where they are deemed to have failed to demonstrate investment in domestic training.
6 – Additional revenue to fund UK skills provision
The Immigration Skills Charge (ISC) is essentially a tax on businesses that employ migrant workers. The ISC charge has not increased since it was introduced in 2017 and the white paper proposes to increase it by 32%.
The white paper proposes that all additional ISC revenues are to be ringfenced for the upcoming Spending Review to expand domestic skills funding for priority sectors and reduce medium term reliance on migration.
Through its work with DESNZ, the Office for Clean Energy Jobs, and other government stakeholders, Energy & Utility Skills is well placed to inform policy makers on the employer-validated skills needs of the sector and the need to direct more funding to the up-skilling and re-skilling that Net Zero and climate change mitigation demand. This could further open up opportunities for entry and progression into sector careers, growing the sector’s Gross Value Added and supporting the communities where good jobs are most needed.
7 – Phasing out low skilled routes
In some sectors, such adult social care, current visa routes will be phased out, with closures for new visa applications being effective immediately.
8 – Enhancing highly skilled and specialist pathways
The current Global Talent, Innovator Founder, and High Potential Individual schemes will be expanded and streamlined. Research-intern placements (including in AI fields) will be doubled to ‘supercharge’ advanced research and development and entrepreneurship.
9 – Refugee Talent Integration
Routes for oversees refugees that are recognised by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) to access the new Skilled Worker visas will be piloted where they possess in-demand skills and training.
10 – Study route reforms to boost skills investment
The Basic Compliance Assessments (BCAs) that education providers who sponsor overseas students will be strengthened, with provider being monitored on performance and subject to intervention plans if under-performing.
All overseas student recruitment agents will have to demonstrate compliance with a new Agent Quality Framework, and there will be a requirement to assess local labour market impacts before expanding international recruitment.
The white paper proposes to investigate options for a levy on higher education providers’ income from international students, to be reinvested into UK skills development.