The Home Office is to face a fresh plea to include transport planners and highways/traffic engineers on its list of occupations that cannot be filled by resident workers.

Ministers have backed the Migration Advisory Committee’s ‘tough new shortage occupation list’ as ‘reducing the number of jobs open to migrants from 1M to 700,000’ (Surveyor, 18 September 2008).

Last month, the committee said it would review its decision not to include transport planners on the list last year because, at the time, there was insufficient evidence of a shortage in numbers.

The Industry Liaison Group charged with implementing Project Brunel’s recommendations to close a looming shortage of nearly 10,000 highways engineers and transport planners is likely to submit evidence that domestic supply cannot match demand.

Project Brunel provides a detailed estimate for the current shortage of engineering, technical and planning professions within the transport sector by individual occupation.

The report, by consultants Franklin & Andrews, found that in 2007 there was a need for 1,100 transport planners, modellers and economists and 540 specialist highways and traffic engineers. It estimated that this demand would rise by 15-25% by 2013.

Sue Stevens, director of education at the Institution of Highways & Transportation, said: ‘The information we had before on the extent of the skills shortage was all a bit anecdotal.

‘These figures are much more robust and should provide the evidence that the Migration Advisory Committee needs to justify their inclusion on the list ahead of the Olympic Games in 2012.’

The Migration Advisory Committee announced the partial review of the shortage occupation list last month and said it would publish the list with any justified revisions by the autumn.