VISA rules are being eased by the UK Government for some foreign recruits, but there was disappointment yesterday that offshore wind workers were not on the list.
Subscribe to our daily newsletter
Why? Free to subscribe, no paywall, daily business news digest.
The Home Office confirmed yesterday that visa rules are being eased for overseas builders, carpenters and people working in the fishing industry.
Roofers and plasterers have also been added to the shortage occupation list, which temporarily eases visa restrictions in areas where employers are struggling to fill vacancies.
The BBC says No.10 denied the move contradicted Government attempts to cut immigration.
The Conservative manifesto at the 2019 general election committed to getting immigration numbers down, without setting a specific target.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “We’ve always acknowledged that, in the short term, we will need to flex and use our Brexit freedoms to enable us to fill short-term occupation numbers.
“We do want to ensure we have a specially trained domestic workforce”.
Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce has has been pressing for greater flexibility to ensure employers can access the labour needed to deliver on existing work and grow their businesses so this shift in policy is good news and a victory for economic common sense over political dogma.
The Chamber has also been pushing for a rethink on the decision to end the concession on immigration rules for offshore wind recruits earlier this year, something which is affecting our members.
However, Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick is turning a deaf ear to pleas for the concession to be extended amid warnings of the adverse impact it is having on the sector’s growth ambitions.
AGCC is hoping for a better hearing from Labour if it is successful at the next general election and has written to Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, saying the Chamber had been encouraged to learn that her party was taking forward plans for a regionally adaptable immigration system that would allow for Scotland to address significant skills shortfalls and acute demographic challenges. Something that was highlighted in the Scotland’s Urban AGE report in 2022.
In the letter Chamber Chief Executive Russell Borthwick wrote: “A more flexible system, tailored to the nations and regions of the UK where there is specific demand, is something we would support and we would welcome engagement with Labour to develop these proposals further.” “Ideally we could convene a number of our members here in the North-east to share first-hand the skills and workforce challenges they face in their own sectors and how better-designed immigration system could address these”.
Mr Borthwick says the case of offshore wind workers neatly encapsulates the lack of joined-up thinking on immigration and goes on: “Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick has been emphatic that the current UK Government has no intention of reinstating the immigration rules exemption.
“This has created, overnight, a major obstacle to recruitment and retention of precisely the sort of workers who we require right now to transition at pace away from oil and gas towards offshore renewable energy.
“It is one example, among many, of current immigration policy working against business interests across the UK but especially in Scotland given the specific challenges we face here.”
Shortage occupation list
People on the shortage occupation list can apply for a skilled worker visa to work in the UK. Those working in a shortage occupation pay lower visa fees.
Applicants will still need a sponsored job offer from an employer and to meet English language requirements.
The shortage list is reviewed every six months, with another review expected by the autumn.
