Wednesday 24 August 2022
The Policy Letter for the Population & Immigration Policy Review - one of government's top priorities for this term - will be published next month.
The Review was centred on a single project ambition: "To have a population management regime that can respond quickly to the Island's changing economic, social and environmental demands and support recovery."
A cross-Committee Steering Group was established, which was attended by the Presidents of five principal Committees and the Policy & Resources Committee, highlighting the strategic importance of the island's population policy.
There are a range of dependencies with population policy, including the island's housing supply and infrastructure, the skills of the local workforce, the delivery of public services and the environment. The review has considered these dependencies, and is proposing a new strategic objective for population for the adoption of the States' Assembly and which will aid longer-term planning in these inter-connected areas.
The review will also propose a series of further changes to the Population Management and Immigration regimes that will seek to both assist businesses in recruiting and retaining staff from overseas, and streamline the Population Management and Immigration processes themselves.
Deputy Rob Prow, President of the Committee for Home Affairs, and Chair of the Population & Immigration Policy Review Steering Group, said:
"We are nearing the completion of the Population and Immigration Policy Review, which is a priority for this term under the Government Work Plan. We previously ran a consultation exercise with representative bodies from the business community and last week we met with industry representatives to further engage with them, discuss their consultation feedback and how it helped shape the development of our proposals for the States. We are also in the final stages of our consultation with relevant States committees whose feedback will help us finalise the propositions. As such our intention is to publish the policy letter in September with the hope it is debated in October.
"One of the main proposals will seek to provide further avenues for businesses to recruit, upskill and retain the existing workforce potential and importantly to recruit the staff they need from off-island should they not be able to secure those staff on-island. The Committee for Home Affairs have made changes along the way through the review, when positive steps have been identified with businesses.
"While the review cannot resolve all of community's challenges in one go, it will make recommendations to take steps in the right direction for future planning. The review's outcomes will also be aligned with other work taking place across the States of Guernsey in areas such as housing and skills."
