No skills, no entry?

No skills, no entry?

They say that the Island should adopt an approach like that of Australia or Canada and allow only skilled and qualified people to come to Jersey, but that once admitted, they should be given the same rights as those born here.Housing’s comments follow the publication of the Strategic Aims Report and Discussion Paper, in which Policy and Resources say that both the Housing Law and the Regulation of Undertakings should be reformed or abolished before the end of this year.The report, which contains the raw material from which the Strategic Plan will be drawn, also suggests that the States could adopt a more selective migration policy.The ideas are going out to general consultation before P & R decide exactly what parts of the plan to put before the States.Housing have thrown their weight behind the proposals to reform legislation and end the ‘two-tier’ housing situation that divides qualified and unqualified people.

They also support the proposal to do away with the Regulation of Undertakings and Development system.’We should be more selective on the kind of people who come into the Island, like they do in Australia, Canada and everywhere else,’ said Housing president Deputy Terry Le Main, adding that non-skilled immigrants were increasingly becoming a burden that the Island could not sustain.He said that the housing, health, education and social security costs of allowing non-skilled people to come into the Island unchecked were having serious consequences on the States’ resources and that his committee was also in favour of scrapping the Regulation of Undertakings and Development.’If we need carpenters or any kind of people to work in specific industries, and if they are shown to be required to do skilled jobs, then I believe we should reward them accordingly after, say five years, having the right to affordable accommodation,’ said the Deputy.’It has been pointed out to me that in Europe at the moment there is a shortage of very skilled staff in the finance industry, but we have got people in businesses and we will not allow them to stay – we send them off every five or seven years.’We need to be sure that there is no slackening or reduction in the quality of service and that we maintain the highest standards anywhere in the world – not only for finance, but for all other sectors.’

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