Apparently the UK government may be putting a limit on the kind of jobs that asylum seekers can apply for. The government wants it so that asylum seekers can only apply for jobs that are within an industry that has a staff shortage.

Home Office ministers are trying to lessen the impact of a supreme court ruling that lifted the work ban on 45,000 asylum seekers. The only way that this impact can be lessened is by severely restricting the jobs that the emigrants are able to apply for. Damian Green, the emigration minister, said that he wants to bar asylum seekers from more than 28.5 million jobs. He wants to restrict them to industries in which there are official staff shortages.

Right now Home Office officials are investigating the possibility of telling asylum seekers they can only apply for vacancies among 400,000 skilled jobs in shortage occupation. This is just a tiny fraction of the jobs in the UK economy. Asylum seekers would have to be qualified math teachers, high integrity pipe welders or chemical engineers to have any hope of being allowed into the country. Of course, there are other jobs as well that would allow emigrants in, including being ballet dancers or orchestral musicians.

This week’s supreme court ruling said failed asylum seekers who have made a second fresh claim for refugee status should be allowed to work if they have had waited more than 12 months for a new Home Office decision. This ruling is in line with the European Union directive that lays down minimum standards for the reception of asylum seekers across Europe to ensure a good standard of living.

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It now appears that many non-British migrant workers are, at least on average, taking up one out of every four jobs in the country. However, in London, there are some areas where they hold seven out of every 10 jobs, according to official figures.

However, the most startling figures were related to Newham, which is the East London borough that is hosting the 2012 Olympics. According to reports based on information from the Office for National Statistics, almost seven in every 10 jobs are filled by workers who are not born in Britain in this area. This is the same as 65,100 jobs out of 93,700. Many of these jobs are on the Olympic site itself.

The number of British born people in Newham that are not in work is about 25,600. This is a combination of the unemployed and those classed as economically inactive, which is the same as students and the long-term sick.

In five other London council areas, which would be Chelsea, Ealing and Kensington, Harrow, Westminster and Brent, the non-British workforce ranges between about 50 and 57 percent of the total workers. There are nine council areas with 40 percent and above workers from outside Britain. There are 13 areas overall with 30 percent and above non-British workers. 22 other council areas of London see non-British workers take up 20 percent of their jobs.

The area with the smallest proportion of foreign-born workers is Newwark and Sherwood in Nottinghamshire at only 1.5 percent. A spokesperson for Migration Watch, said that, where there are gaps in the UK labour market, they should be filling them with the UK population. There is a laxness and a looseness about the way people are allowed in. Migration Watch wants to see this closer controlled.

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According to reports, the Harmondsworth emigration removal center will be able to hold 630 detainees at one time. The capacity of this emigration center, which is the main detention center near Heathrow, is to be doubled. This makes it the biggest processing and deportation center in all of Europe. Harmondsworth emigration removal center will, starting next month, be able to hold more than 630 people at once.

This privately run emigration detention center has been rebuilt since a major disturbance in 2006. This was the second in its eight and a half year history. During the last disturbance two wings were destroyed, which halved its official capacity to 259 detainees.

Dame Anne Owers, the chief inspector of prisons, said that the imminent opening of a higher security prison type block threatens recent improvements at the troubled removal center. Back in 2006 Owers said that Harmondsworth was the worst emigration removal center they had inspected. The original contractors, Kalyx, formally known as United Kingdom Detention Services, were replaced in June last year by the American private security company, the GEO Group. This is the same group that operates Campefiled House near Oxford.

Right now Britain already has the largest network of emigration detention centers in all of Europe. The next extension of Harmondsworth will add 364 beds to the total number of detainees that the UK can take at one time.

Owers went on to say that since the 2006 disturbance, the prison inspectors have charted a slow but steady progress from this low point. The results of the most recent inspection, which was carried out in January of this year and published this week, shows a big improvement in culture and regime.

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One of the biggest names in the car hire industry, Carrentals.co.uk, has just recently launched a brand new campaign that is called “Raising the Standard.” The whole goal of this campaign is to help consumers find the best travel services to fit their needs. The campaign itself consists of a forum, blog and even a selection of downloadable advice papers.

The managing director over at Carrentals.co.uk, Gareth Robinson, said “It has always been our aim to provide customers with a website that offers the best available deals, with the price comparison model ensuring that we are able to offer a great range of choice at the most competitive prices. However, we realize that car hire is just one part of a holiday and therefore wanted to extend the scope of our website to offer travelers an interactive resource where they can raise any travel concerns they may have.”

Mr Robinson went on to say, “There are a lot of fantastic travel offers available these days, but in order to make the most of these, consumers need to be travel-savvy and not get caught out by hidden charges or restrictions in the small print – factors that we hope this campaign will, over time, help eliminate. Raising the Standard is aimed at offering travelers an opportunity to ask questions or raise any concerns they may have to provide them with sound advice and information on how to find the deals that are right for them.”

Carrentals.co.uk will be partnering up with other companies for this campaign as well. Companies like Questor Insurance, Zintech, Fly.co.uk, and Self Catering Breaks will be contributing as well.

A member of the Questor Insurance team, Andrew Lawrence, said “There is so much information available to travelers these days, but this can sometimes be a bit overwhelming and it can be difficult working out which information is officially accurate. The Raising the Standard forum offers a central place for consumers to visit and gain access to a host of useful information, as well as being able to receive responses to personal problems.”

Andrew went on to say, “We know just how many issues people face when looking into travel insurance and are looking forward to helping travelers find out more about the choices available to them to make sure they understand which policies are best suited to their individual requirements.”

Everyone is allowed to register as a member of the Raising the Standard forum. For more information, or to register with the forum, visit http://fourm.carrentals.co.uk.

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According to recent reports, Chancellor Alistair Darling has just recently announced the 2010 UK Budget. This budget, which was introduced this past Wednesday, included a number of big changes.

First of all, something that effects just about everyone in the UK, is a planned 2.76p increase in fuel duty. This is set to start next month, but will be phased in to help reduce the impact on the economy. This new move, which is already expected to add more than £2 to the cost of refilling a large car, is set to rise by 1p in April, 1p in October, and the remaining 0.76p in January of 2011. Darling said that, by the time the full duty increase comes into effect, it should be right in line with inflation.

This new decision follows a warning from the AA last week that said petrol prices were on track to hit a record high of 124p a liter by Easter. The average price of petrol has shot up 4p a liter in the past month. This is its highest level since July of 2008.

The new budget will also see a crack down on tax avoiders who try to hide their income in tax haves offshore. These tax cheaters have been targeted with a wide ranging package of anti-avoidance measures, which will raise £500 million and protect tax revenues of £4 billion.

To help identify the people that are using these havens, the government has signed a new tax information exchange agreement with three well known havens: Grenada, Belize, and Dominica. An enhanced information exchange agreement has been signed with Liechtenstein, and the chancellor said the other 3 new agreements will be signed within a few days.

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DiscountVouchers.co.uk has just recently announced that it will be donating up to 10p, up to a max of £50,000, to the Sport Relief charity for every new fan that signs up with DiscountVouchers.co.uk Facebook account before midnight on the 21^st of this month. This campaign aims to help raise funds for the Sport Relief.

Anyone that does choose to become a Facebook fan of the DiscountVouchers.co.uk page, will not only be helping out the charity, but will also be signing themselves up to receive the latest deals from a wide range of companies. Some of the companies that people can expect to receive offers and deals from include lastminute.com, Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Sky, Argos, First Choice and many more.

Simon Terry, who is the current managing director of DiscountVouchers.co.uk, said “Sport Relief is a fantastic cause and we are willing to donate up to £50,000 to aid the charity. However, it is up to the public how much we spend – the more people who become fans, the money we will donate!”

Simon Terry finished up by saying, “Becoming a Facebook fan now has a double incentive, with anyone registered being amongst the first to receive news of the latest money-saving offers, plus up until midnight on Sunday, registering ensures that we will donate even more money to Sport Relief.”

The great thing about DiscountVouchers.co.uk is that the site offers updates in real time, meaning that visitors to the site will always be getting the latest offer information. For more information about DiscountVounchers.co.uk or to view the Facebook page go to www.discountvouchers.co.uk.

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Although this news may not be very shocking to anyone, a new survey has found that a significant majority of London businesses think emigration is good for the capital’s economy. This leads many experts to think that the problem with emigration stems from the general public.

A survey of 182 firms in London found that 70 percent of them believe that the economy would not be as competitive if it was not for emigrant workers. This poll, which was actually carried out by the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry in partnership with ComRes, came just two years after the introduction of the UK’s point based system.

Many emigrants are viewed in positive light by London employers, as 68 percent of these businesses say they often work harder than their UK counterparts, while 72 percent of these companies say that emigrants are prepared to do the jobs that British citizens would not think of doing. Thus, without these emigrant workers, there would be some jobs that just simply would not get done.

Of course, these UK businesses not only view emigrants in a positive light, but they value their contribution to their firms as well. 57 percent of these companies said that emigrants are important to their company’s needs. However, 56 percent of these companies think that emigrant workers are not as well qualified as UK employees. Thus, a lot of companies view emigrant workers as a form of cheap labor that will do jobs that other Brits would not think of doing. However, from an economical stand point, this means that emigrant workers are still very valuable to many UK businesses.

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Apparently taxpayers are currently paying millions of pounds in extra benefits to Eastern European emigrations because of new changes to the EU regulation. For the past seven years, emigrants from eight countries were unable to collect benefits in the UK until they have worked in the country for 12 months.

However, as of April 2011, emigrants from Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, Lithuania, Slovenia and the Czech Republic will be allowed to claim Job Seekers Allowances and other benefits after just three months. This is, of course, subject to the fact that they can provided the fact that the have been actively seeking work, undergoing training or attending job interviews.

Many other European nations, unlike Britain, have closed their labor markets to these countries. However, Britain allowed them to work on the conditions that went by the Government’s Worker Registration Scheme, which denied them benefits for a year.

So what does this mean overall? Well it means that Eastern European emigrants who enter into Britain will be subject to the very same benefits that are given to well established EU countries like France and Germany. Although there are not any official government figures, the latest academic surveys have suggested that there are now 1.2 million Eastern European nationals living in Britain.

A lot of the former Soviet countries pay a lot lower unemployment benefits than what the UK does. For example, in Latvia, the monthly unemployment allowance is £57.20 compared with the UK’s £200-£256. Thus, there is no mystery to why people are trying to enter into the UK and look for work. It simply pays more to be looking for work in the UK than in other countries.

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