Government told to open door for migrant ‘takeaway' chefs

The government should scrap limits on Tier 2 visa applications for restaurants that offer takeaway services due to the rise of delivery services, a Home Office sanctioned report has suggested.

The last assessment of the SOL, which identifies job roles that should have priority access to Tier 2 Visas, took place in 2013, the same year Deliveroo was founded.

However, the recommendation still limits Tier 2 visas for those working in fast-food or ‘standard fare' outlets. Fast-food outlets have previously been defined as ones where food is prepared in bulk for speed of service rather than to individual order, while standard fare is termed as "one where the menu is designed centrally for outlets in a chain".

The report found significant issues in chef recruitment, ranking the profession 47th among the 105 most at-risk skilled occupations covered by the SOL. Some 16.7% of people in the industry were found to be from outside the UK in the European Economic Area, while 29.6% were identified as being from elsewhere in the world.

The report also follows a steep decline in migrants entering the country from the EU as Freedom of Movement legislation looks set to be dropped after Brexit. Last August the number of EU migrants entering the UK declined by 95% year-on-year.