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Managed Migration

I am grateful for that burst of clarity from the Government Front Bench, which is a rare treat. While I am on tier 2, however, let me deal with the vexed question of restaurants, which the hon. Member for Leicester, East (Keith Vaz) rightly raised. We are grateful to him, and I am also grateful to Christine Lee of the North London Chinese Association, and to others including Mr. Enam Ali from the Guild of Bangladeshi Restaurateurs for passing on their detailed concerns about the effect that the new system might have on hundreds of small businesses. I know that the Minister has held meetings on this subject, so he is aware of the main points of concern, which boil down to whether enough chefs with specialist skills will be available to keep Chinese, Indian, Bangladeshi and other restaurants going. A few days ago, the Home Secretary appeared to say that the way to solve the growing shortage is simply to train replacements in this country. Again, the House deserves some clarity as to whether that is the Government’s solution to the problem. Ministers are aware of the concerns that under the current proposals even highly skilled chefs will not score enough points to qualify under tier 2, particularly if they do not have any significant paper qualifications. There is also the issue of benefits in kind, such as accommodation, which is often provided for chefs who come to this country. It is not obvious from the Command Paper how the salary-based allocation of points accounts for that. Mr. Ali, whom I mentioned, said:"““We can cite numerous examples where the lack of educational opportunity (which is the norm throughout the third world) to gain formal qualifications equivalent to NVQ levels 3 or 4, is being abused by Entry Officers as a pretext for Visa refusal. Typical is the story of a top chef currently running the kitchens of a five-star Bombay restaurant, who cannot gain entry to the UK because he is virtually illiterate.””" Clearly, such sensitive issues will arise.