Drivers are not skilled: official
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Truck drivers are unlikely to be among the 100,000 skilled immigrant workers the government is considering allowing into the UK to take unfilled vacancies.
Home Office Minister Barbara Roche is reported to be examining how Britain can use guest workers to fill vacancies, particularly in the fields of IT, education and medicine.
The government believes that economic growth is being hampered by the lack of skilled workers in the UK.
However; an application by a haulier to employ 39 Gurkhas who had applied for temporary work permits in the UK was turned down by the government.
The decision to deny the fully trained Nepalese exservicemen the right to drive in the UK will anger transport managers across the UK who are desperate to find reliable drivers.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Employment
says even if the government did allow skilled workers temporary work permits. truck drivers will not be among them—because driving is not considered a sufficiently skilled occupation.
But Nick Collins, managing director of Driving Force Logistics, the haulier which wants to recruit the Gurkhas, says he has the backing of his MP and will push for a government rethink on the issue.