The UK won’t have a “numerical target” for net migration but should focus on training “our own workforce”, a cabinet minister has said.
Pat McFadden has said the government wouldn’t be putting a figure on the level of net migration it wanted to see as part of the wider plan for change to be announced this week.
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster suggested that targets for net migration “haven’t worked very well”, just days after figures showed net migration hit a record 906,000 in 2023.
Later this week Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will unveil a ‘plan for change’ with milestones in key policy areas, to try and achieve the missions set out in the Labour election manifesto.
McFadden was asked by the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme whether the announcement would include a target on reducing net migration.
He said: “Targets for net migration haven’t worked very well. What’s happened is it’s gone up an awful lot in recent years. We do want to bring it down.
“The exact number that you need will always ebb and flow depending on the needs of the economy.”
And he continued: “We’re not going to have a numerical target for net migration, but we are going to make sure that we do more to train our own workforce and do more to get long term sick people off benefits and into work.”
He also told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips programme that “the document that we’re going to publish this week will talk about migration, both legal and illegal.”
Revised figures released on Thursday estimated that net migration hit a record 906,000 in 2023.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the difference between the number of people arriving and leaving the country reached a higher than previously thought peak in the 12 months to June last year, after being revised up 166,000 from the initial figure.
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Shadow minister Victoria Atkins said that the Conservative government wanted to see migration decrease when it was in power “but it didn’t”.
She told the BBC: “We know that we wanted to see immigration come down and it didn’t. We want to make some real movement on this if we are, and when we are, lucky enough to be back in government.”
Atkins also criticised Labour for not setting out “firm plans” about migration numbers. She told Sky News measures put in place by the Conservative government were “bearing fruit”.
“As we’ve seen, the removal, for example, of the ability of international students to bring dependents is the main reason why immigration has gone down in these latest figures,” she said.
“We also know, however, that voters want to see some certainty about this, which is why Kemi was talking about the cap on numbers.
“And I note, Labour have left any firm plans for that out of their talk this weekend about planning for change.”