The Lords Select committee on the European Union has published a report Brexit: UK-EU movement of people
The conclusions noted that: ‘Employers’ organisations were alarmed at the prospect that EU nationals might in future be subject to the UK’s non-EU immigration regime, the ‘Points Based System’. To do so would disproportionately affect some employers’ ability to sponsor EU workers, and could result in labour shortages in some areas…
To mitigate this, the Government may be tempted to consider a work permit system that is restrictive at first glance, but hedged with exemptions for particular sectors and schemes, such as a Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme. This approach could produce the worst of all worlds, failing to deliver a meaningful reduction in immigration while also proving more onerous and costly for employers, prospective applicants, and those charged with enforcement’.
We have been considering free movement in the context of the heritage sector and will continue to flag potential issues to the Government.