The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

Opportunities for Bangladeshi chefs are going to open up to get jobs in Britain's burgeoning curry industry as the British Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) recently published its list of skills shortages caused by the new Point-based Immigration Policy.

The UK's Point-based Immigration Policy sealed off the chance of Bangladeshi chefs and kitchen porters to get jobs in the curry industry. The new policy allowed recruitment of chefs and workers only from European countries.

Around 100,000 Bangladeshi Britons are employed in the curry industry, contributing 4 billion pounds sterling to the British economy.

After months of lobbying the British government, the MAC published a list of shortage of key chefs on September 9.

Talking to UNB in London former British MP and Chief Executive of the Immigration Advisory Service Keith Best said he gave evidence to MAC chairperson Prof David Metcalf on behalf of the curry industry and other ethnic cuisine which is finding it hard to recruit key chefs.

He said inclusion on the skills shortage list is an acceptance of that position and the recognition that there is a shortage of chefs.

Best said the recommendations of the MAC deal only with the chef shortage. From the end of November, when Tier 2 (work permits) of the new Points Based System scheme comes into effect, only those employers who are registered as sponsors will be able to recruit from outside the EEA.

He said only employees who reach the 70 necessary points would be given entry clearance. The effect of placing a job on the skills shortage list is that, although the 10 points for passing the English language test and the 10 points for showing that there is sufficient maintenance (about £800 will be required) remain mandatory, the potential employer (sponsor) will not have to conduct the Resident Labour Market Test (advertising the post for at least two weeks in JobCentre Plus to enable any EEA citizen to apply).

Best said yet the MAC recommendation would apply only to those chefs who are to be paid at a minimum of £8.10 per hour after deductions for accommodation and food if these are provided by the employer. This may well not meet the needs of the industry.

On the need for lower-skilled workers as kitchen porters, he said there would be no Tier 3 scheme (the tier in the Points Based System for bringing in lower-skilled workers from outside the EEA using operators) in the foreseeable future - Tier 3 has been suspended indefinitely. He said the British government still expects all these labour needs for the curry industry to be met from workers within the EEA.

Best said for restaurant owners who need to recruit chefs at lower wages than £8.10 per hour they would have to apply under Tier 2 for each potential employee from outside the EEA. They will have to conduct the Resident Labour Market Test but, most importantly, the potential employee must satisfy the 50 points required which will be made up of a combination of qualifications and the salary being offered (assuming that the job to which they will be going is designated as being a skill at NVQ3 level or above).

Best said this is despite the fact that the sort of chefs whom UK restaurants want to recruit may be expert in their trade but may well not have paper qualifications to prove it.

That means that the points will have to be gained from the salary level that is offered (there are more points the higher the salary). There is the danger, therefore, that this will have the effect of pricing these chefs out of the market.