Supporting organizations call for relaxed immigration laws
Ministers have been lobbied by two important scaffolding associations to include scaffolders on the UK's immigration shortage profession list.
Ministers have been lobbied by two important scaffolding associations to include scaffolders on the UK's immigration shortage profession list. The government has been cautioned by the National Access and Scaffolding Confederation (NASC) and the Construction Industry Scaffolders Record Scheme (CISRS) that the lack of skills in the industry threatens its goals for energy, housing, and infrastructure.The organizations have written to Brian Bell, head of the Migration Advisory Committee, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer, urging them to relax immigration laws to facilitate the hiring of scaffolders from overseas. In a letter to Reeves for both organizations, NASC chief executive Clive Dickin stated: "The scaffolding and access sector is confronting a significant skills shortage that threatens progress on essential infrastructure and housing projects – areas critical to your economic strategy and broader fiscal objectives." Construction News obtained the letter.Through a variety of initiatives, the trade association was investing in upskilling the current workforce and training fresh local talent, but it stated that these efforts would take time to pay off. Dickin continued, "Hiring people from abroad is still a crucial short-term solution to close the current skills gap." "Your support for this recommendation will be crucial in unlocking the sector's economic potential, as there are currently over 1,200 open positions nationwide and the sector has the potential to grow by 18% among NASC members."It was the same letter to Starmer. Bell was urged to "recognise scaffolding as a critical sector by including scaffolding and access roles, particularly those requiring Level 2 and below qualifications, on the shortage occupation list for five years." Bell's committee makes recommendations about which roles should be included in the shortlist.In addition, the letter to Bell requested that his committee recognize the critical role that competent scaffolders play in "advancing national priorities, from infrastructure expansion to achieving net-zero targets.""We see the difficulties of the talent shortage as a major barrier to achieving good growth within the UK economy, and it is really important that we see [the government] afford a change in the short term that allows the shortage occupation list to be amended so we can get talent into the UK," Dickin told CN.The shortage occupation list now includes a number of construction-related jobs, such as roofers, carpenters, plasterers, and bricklayers. After a campaign by the Construction Leadership Council in 2023, which published a study saying the professions were crucial to the completion of national priority projects, a number of them were included.
