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The CGi has misunderstood changes to the island's population management rules with Deputy Rob Prow saying the group is wrong to say the law is "broken" and that he wants to meet with members to discuss how it actually works.
The Confederation of Guernsey Industry has said that the population management law is "damaging" vital industries such as catering, hygiene, retail and transport.
The Population Management Law regulates the size and make-up of Guernsey's population and also determines who can live in certain accommodation.
The law was amended in April when the Committee for Home Affairs, which is responsible for both Population Management and Immigration, agreed 'a single joint policy which covers both an Employment Permit and Work Permit'. That is referred to as the 'Employment Permit Policy' and means that the same job roles will be available to all nationalities. HA said this would give clear guidance to both employers and individuals.
However, the CGi said it is infact creating a "skills drain" with local businesses "chronically short of trained and experienced staff".
Deputy Prow said the group "not only fail(s) to understand the changes that we have introduced - to meet the ambitions of the States Assembly when it agreed last year to the recommendations of the Population and Immigration Policy Review - but also doesn’t appear to understand what would happen if we abolished the law like its statement suggests."
Deputy Prow queried what the CGi had hoped to achieve through its statement criticising the amended law and calling for it to be "scrapped or radically improved".
"The short answer is that all businesses in Guernsey would operate in a far more restrictive landscape than they do now, unless the CGI is advocating we leave the Common Travel Area – and I’m sure people are well aware of the significant issues that would cause our community. The only reason we have been able to operate a more flexible system in Guernsey, compared to the UK’s post-Brexit, is because we have the Population Management Law in place and can therefore demonstrate to our partner jurisdictions in the CTA that we can effectively manage who enters and remains in our jurisdiction."
Pictured: CGi Chairman Dave Newman said the amended law is impacting the group's members and employers across Guernsey offering cleaning, catering, care, hospitality, retail, on-island transport and other vital services are suffering as a result.
With the CGi claiming businesses across multiple sectors such as hospitality, cleaning, and transport, are affected by the claimed "skills drain", Deputy Prow said the situation is actually very different.
"Far from businesses not being able to access the staff they need, the new combined population and immigration policy framework we introduced a few months ago means local businesses employing to over 250 roles listed in the Employment Permit Policy now have access to a global pool of workers from which to recruit, rather than being restricted to CTA and EU/EEA countries only as they were previously.
"Brexit and the pandemic have led to increased workloads for our teams and the introduction of a new policy framework adds to that while it beds in. We are continuing to work through a large number of applications but it is important to note that the vast majority of these are considered “in-policy” renewals, so applicants can continue to live and work here lawfully whilst the application is awaiting processing. But the new framework will have huge long-term benefits in providing even greater flexibility for businesses in their efforts to recruit and retain the staff they need."
The CGi's Chairman, Dave Newman said he is willing to conduct joint talks with Home Affairs and P&R (which share responsibility for the legislation), Economic Development and industry sector representatives to try and find a way forward together. But Deputy Prow says that isn't necessary because the situation is not as presented by the CGi.
Pictured: Deputy Rob Prow is politically responsible for Guernsey's population management regime.
Deputy Prow said he would meet with the CGi to discuss that though.
"The CGI’s statement refers to a 'skills drain' but offers no evidence to back that claim up. The facts show we have removed medium term employment permits and converted nearly all of those roles to long term employment permits, offering businesses the opportunity to retain good quality staff in these roles permanently and make recruitment easier. The facts also show that we’ve opened up roles that gain short term employment permits to more nationalities than ever before; we have opened up the Employment Permit Policy so staff can be recruited from anywhere. If they are trained and experienced, then the new policy for roles such as cleaning, hospitality etc helps, not hinders.
"Without our Population Management Law, we would need to revert to the much stricter UK points-based system that would make it virtually impossible to recruit to many roles that are able to secure short term employment permits currently.
"The CGI has not approached us to further its understanding and it doesn’t refer its members for advice and guidance. Rather than issuing emotively worded media releases, I would suggest it would be more productive for its members if the CGI reached out to better understand the parameters we have to work within, specifically in regard to the Common Travel Area, and better understand the new combined population and immigration policy framework and its increased flexibility. Rather than claiming it is broken, come and understand how it works – our teams in population and immigration are always willing to try and help find a solution if one is possible.
"I will reflect this to the CGI directly, including that we would be very happy to put on a presentation for its members if they are keen to engage with us."
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