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Managed Migration

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point, and I am sure that the Minister will want to respond to it later. My party’s other concerns include possible burdens on businesses and universities. Better partnership working is, of course, to be welcomed and, in theory, the proposals on sponsorship have considerable merit. However, bureaucracy has a tendency to expand as time goes on, and I hope that the system is as user friendly in practice as has been promised. I notice from the guidance that the Home Secretary can ignore the skills advisory board’s views, but I hope that the Minister will confirm that that is not intended to be standard practice. In addition, as flexibility will be a key issue for the SAB, it would be useful if the Minister gave us some indication about the regularity with which the board will report. With seasonal and agricultural labour in particular, any delay on the part of the SAB or the Government could result in worker shortages.