STATEMENT RE DEPARTMENT FOR ENTERPRISE (DFE) PROPOSING FURTHER CONSULTATION ON WORK PERMIT REFORMS

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14 December 2023

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Chamber statement: 

Isle of Man Chamber of Commerce President Kristan McDonald said: “Feedback from our members via Quarterly Economic Surveys has shown a strong consensus in favour of relaxing the Work Permit rules in order to help address the labour shortage affecting most sectors of the economy. Chamber has therefore been calling for the rules and Work Permit system to be reformed for some time. We have been working with the Department for Enterprise (DfE) to make sure the concerns of our members, and the wider business community, are addressed as a matter of urgency.

“However, it is important that Government gets this right by making sure any reforms are effective, fit for purpose, and don’t have unintended consequences. It has become clear from our talks with DfE that there are important political matters which need to be addressed, in addition to the concerns of businesses. For these reasons, Chamber supports DfE’s decision to carry out further engagement, even though this will inevitably lead to a delay in reforms being proposed and introduced.”