Visas for foreign construction workers in bid to fill UK job shortages

Carpenters, bricklayers and roofers are among migrant workers who will be allowed to apply for work visas and get a discount on fees in a bid to fill UK job shortages.

The Home Office said it was “temporarily easing visa restrictions” for a string of construction roles by adding them to the shortage occupation list.

This means foreign workers trained in certain professions qualify for a work visa and are allowed to pay a reduced application fee.

The Government hopes the move will help boost the economy, “stimulate development” and “attract new talent”, the department said.

The announcement comes in the wake of calls from some Tory MPs who urged Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to cut immigration and cut back on temporary visa schemes.

Downing Street defended the decision and said it did not contradict Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s well-publicised ambition to reduce overall immigration figures and end the reliance on overseas workers.

Bricklayers, masons, roofers, roof tilers, slaters, carpenters, joiners, plasterers and other “construction and building trades not elsewhere classified” have all been added.

Those working in a shortage occupation can be paid 80% of the job’s usual going rate.

Applicants still need a sponsored job offer from an employer and have to meet English language requirements under the Government’s points-based immigration system.

The roles on the shortage occupation list remain under review, the Home Office added.

I think we’ve always acknowledged that in the short term we will need to flex and use our our Brexit freedoms to enable us to fill short-term occupation numbers

It comes after the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), which advises the Government on immigration, recommended the plan.

Previously the independent body warned replacing freedom of movement with a points-based immigration system after Brexit could cut economic growth and may have “zero effect” on providing more British jobs for British workers.

At the time, industry leaders warned builders could be one of the industries hit the hardest by the changes to the UK’s immigration rules which meant visas would not routinely be offered to migrant workers in jobs which were considered by ministers and officials to be low-skilled.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “I think we’ve always acknowledged that in the short term we will need to flex and use our our Brexit freedoms to enable us to fill short-term occupation numbers.

“Obviously, the shortage occupation list is counted differently to the overall net migration figures.

“Long-term it’s right, as the Home Secretary said. We do want to ensure we have a specially trained domestic workforce.

He said that the Department for Work and Pensions “are doing a lot of work to that end to ensure that those who are inactive or off on long-term sick are being helped back into the workforce to fill some of these gaps”.