30-04-2008
HBF applauds attitudes of migrant tradesmen
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The influx of migrants into the UK construction industry has been "beneficial" to the "effective operation" of the sector, a major trade body has claimed.
Over the last few years, the numbers of eastern Europeans working as tradesmen in the construction sector have increased and have brought a number of advantages with them, the Home Builders Federation (HBF) stated.
The skills shortage which the construction industry has been wrestling with for a number of years has been eased somewhat by the introduction of migration into the construction sector, John Slaughter, director of external affairs at the HBF, said.
He added: "The availability of migrant labour to meet the shortfall in the short-term is something that can't be matched by joining the workforce through the college system as that does take time."
Earlier this month, a House of Lords committee had ruled that immigration has been of "small benefit" to the UK.