RCVS welcomes skills shortage recommendation

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) welcomes the inclusion by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) of the veterinary profession on its recommended list of occupations for which there is a shortage of skilled workers in the UK.

The list will be used in Tier 2 of the new Points Based System that relates to the immigration of skilled workers from outside the European Economic Area (EEA). Under this scheme, employers who are licensed sponsors can bring in migrant workers from outside the EEA to fill vacancies in those occupations listed. The MAC’s lists are recommendations to Government; it is up to Government whether or not to accept them. However, the veterinary profession has been listed by the Home Office as a Skills Shortage Occupation for a number of years.

“The current listing of the veterinary profession as one with skills shortage recognises that there are not enough home-grown graduates to satisfy the UK demand,” according to RCVS President Jill Nute. “We welcome the recommendation from the MAC. It is reassuring that the profession is likely to continue to benefit from the skills of overseas-qualified veterinary surgeons.” The College recommends that the position be reviewed in five years time.

Over the last five years, an average of 55% of annual RCVS new registrations have been from non-UK graduates, with an average of 702 overseas vets being registered each year during this period (of which less than 40% have been from outside the EAA). However, the population of overseas vets is somewhat transient.

“Statistics from our 2006 Survey of the Profession would indicate that there are currently jobs available for these migrant workers - only 1 per cent of registered veterinary surgeons was unemployed at the time, and this figure had been consistent over the previous six years,” adds Jill.

All veterinary surgeons wishing to practise in the UK, regardless of their nationality or country of residence, must either hold a qualification recognised by the RCVS for the purposes of registration, or have passed the RCVS’s Statutory Membership Examination, and be registered with the RCVS.

Veterinary nursing

The position of veterinary nurses was also considered by the Migration Advisory Committee. However, on review of the data, the MAC did not add veterinary nurses to the list, with the following explanation:

“We accept that the occupation [veterinary nursing] is skilled and that veterinary practices are finding it difficult to fill vacancies. However, the low earnings in the occupation are a concern, and survey evidence provided to us suggests that this is one of the reasons for recruitment and retention problems. We consider that there are alternatives for filling shortages other than by employing immigrants, such as improving advertising, increasing pay and addressing a mismatch in expectations between college-trained* nurses and practices. On the basis of the evidence we have seen, we do not believe it would be sensible to fill vacancies in this occupation by immigration from outside the EEA.”

Commenting on this explanation, Jill Nute added: “Our recent Survey of the Veterinary Nursing Profession highlights the fact that many nurses are dissatisfied with their salary package. It is not the role of the RCVS to intervene in remuneration issues, but I endorse the conclusion of the MAC, that the employers of veterinary nurses should look to improve VN recruitment and retention through addressing domestic issues before looking overseas.”

ENDS

For more information, please contact:

Lizzie Lockett (020 7202 0725) [email protected]
Communications Department

NOTES FOR EDITORS

The RCVS is the regulatory body for veterinary surgeons in the UK and deals with issues of professional misconduct, maintaining the Register of veterinary surgeons eligible to practise in the UK and assuring standards of veterinary education.

*The RCVS has assumed that by ‘college-trained’ the MAC means qualified and eligible to List/Register with the RCVS.