Migration mystery

When the Home Office’s Migration Advisory Committee last month published its new list of shortage occupations under the proposed ‘points based’ immigration system for non-EU residents, it included veterinary nurses, dancers, sheep shearers – and managers in construction and quantity surveyors.

While the arrival of skilled new recruits is always welcome – albeit mistimed in the middle of a credit crunch – the industry’s skills and training bodies were left wondering just how the MAC concluded the industry had a high-level skills gap.

ConstructionSkills explains that it only gave the MAC detailed evidence about how construction skills and qualifications should be assessed, and the nature of shortages. Its spokesman said: ‘No evidence was submitted that allowed the MAC to conclude that any construction occupations should be included on the shortage occupation list at this time.’

Meanwhile, Construction Confederation spokesman Kurt Calder said the organisation had recently given evidence on skills to the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee, and to a skills enquiry by the DTI and the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform - but not the MAC.

‘Even anecdotally, I haven’t heard there’s a shortage, and with the credit crunch, any shortage is likely to be eased,’ he said.