The Government must include key construction roles in its Shortage Occupation List following the Migration Advisory Committee’s recognition of skills shortages in the construction industry, industry bodies have warned.
In a report out today (29 March), the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has recognised the important role the construction industry plays in the UK economy and that construction will require careful consideration in a future immigration system.
The MAC has included construction as a sector that has a number of roles in shortage that don’t meet the skill criteria to be included in the current Shortage Occupation List.
Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, said: “We are pleased to see the Migration Advisory Committee’s recognition of the vital importance of the UK construction industry, the high numbers of EU workers in this sector and the increasing struggle of construction employers to find skilled workers. However, it is shocking how few construction roles were recommended to be added to the Shortage Occupation List, due to not meeting the arbitrary definition of skill level.
“With 64 per cent of construction SMEs struggling to find bricklayers and 59 per cent not being able to find quality carpenters, skill shortages continue to plague the industry. The Government should now act on the MAC’s advice and acknowledge these shortage areas in the future immigration system. If it does not, our shared ambition to address the housing shortage will not be possible.”
The Home Secretary, Sajid Javid has asked MAC to scrap plans to impose a £30,000 salary threshold on EU citizens coming into the UK after Brexit.
Javid has instead asked the MAC to consider allowing companies to pay the “going rate” for foreign workers, whilst also taking into consideration regional salary levels. The committee’s proposals were published in October 2018 and included in the Government’s Immigration White Paper.
The National Federation of Builders NFB has welcomed the call for a more flexible approach to immigration. Such a threshold would create an additional barrier to building new homes and make life harder for SMEs and regional contractors, particularly at a time when the construction industry continues to face significant shortages of skilled workers.
Richard Beresford, chief executive of the NFB said: “The government needs to understand the high value of construction workers to the economy, when deciding the immigration rules for EU workers after Brexit. Faced with the most significant housing crisis in seventy years and acute skills shortages, the Government must adopt a flexible approach to immigration that allows companies to continue to access skilled labour from our closest neighbouring countries, whilst also fostering the training of home-grown talent.”
