The committee is looking to switch more resources to the department as a priority to tackle the backlog.
This is on top of a support plan agreed earlier in the year when it established a dedicated customer service team.
The committee said it wanted to reassure the community that it was focused on ensuring stability in the service and that the backlog of permit applications was being tackled. It also wanted to acknowledge concerns that had been expressed over increasing and uncertain processing times and the potential impact this was having on local businesses.
‘The backlog of applications makes for very sobering reading,’ said president Marc Leadbeater.
‘However, while I am disappointed to have to make an announcement like this, it is important that there is clarity around exactly where and how we are going to rebuild confidence in the system.
‘This is not an issue that has arisen overnight, or due to any one factor, and it will take time to tackle the backlog of applications. The allocation of additional resources will be essential if we are to make timely progress.
‘This operational response must be complemented by a review of the regime itself. The committee firmly believes that the regime must continue to evolve and flex to respond to the needs of industry, while responsibly managing the consequences of accessing a worldwide employment pool on our island community.’
Home Affairs has said that applications were becoming more complex, and the introduction of a three-year short term employment permit limit, the end of transitionary arrangements, and an increase in complicated cases and rejections were placing increased pressure on the service.
A temporary extension to short term permits, announced in the summer, has only been a modest help, and Home Affairs admitted that policy changes post-Brexit were not helping either.
This week the committee was told that as of 17 September there were 3,886 applications for population management permits or certificates which need to be actioned by the service, and 324 applications in immigration workstreams.
Once the department has stabilised the backlog, it has committed to setting and reporting on service standards and the committee will consider policy changes to streamline application processing and provide industry with greater confidence in the regime, alongside a cross-committee population policy review.
The department has been embroiled in controversy in recent weeks after it emerged that its director had been working from outside the island for several months.
States chief executive Boley Smillie stepped in, the officer left his role, and a locally-based interim appointment has now been made.
Mr Smillie said he believed that the incumbent needed to be based on-island.
He said last month that his next priority was to ensure that the team had the leadership and support it needed.
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