Question
I thank my right hon. Friend for her statement. Could she consider the disparity that sometimes arises across the UK in salaries? I point her to information published by the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland just last month, which indicated that those in Scotland were likely to be earning up to 9% less than their counterparts in the rest of the UK. We clearly would not want people in the immigration system to be caught out by that anomaly, too.
Answer
My hon. Friend makes an important point. She will know that those who are already in the country on lower salaries were given an exemption by the previous Government, and so can extend their visa on the same salary. We have agreed that we will extend that further to 2035, to enable those people to achieve settlement. More broadly, she will know that some of the changes in the Budget reflect advice from the Migration Advisory Committee on regional pay.
Verdict: AMBER (52/100)
The reply gives a concrete answer on immigration protections: people already in the country on lower salaries can extend their visas on the same pay, and that exemption has been extended to 2035 to allow settlement. It only partly answers the question about regional pay disparities. It mentions that some Budget changes reflect Migration Advisory Committee advice on regional pay, but it does not address the Scotland finding of a 9% gap or say whether the Government will look at the disparities themselves. The asker would likely need to raise the regional pay point again to get a full answer.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Will the Government consider the salary disparities that sometimes arise across the UK, including the RIAS-reported finding that earnings in Scotland may be up to 9% lower than elsewhere in the UK? | Partially Addressed | Direct | The reply's only acknowledgement, 'My hon. Friend makes an important point', is empty, but the statement that some Budget changes reflect MAC advice on regional pay does name a concrete link to regional pay. It never engages with the RIAS 9% Scotland finding or says whether the Government will consider the disparities themselves, so coverage is incomplete. |
| Will the Government consider the effect of such regional salary disparities on people in the immigration system, so that they are not caught out by them? | Addressed | Direct | The reply describes a specific mechanism: people already in the country on lower salaries were given an exemption allowing them to extend their visa on the same salary, and that has been extended to 2035 to enable settlement. This directly answers whether people in the immigration system will be protected from being caught out by lower pay levels, though it does not explicitly tie the exemption to regional disparities. |