Brown urges curry house training

There are fears tighter rules will damage the curry house industry

People in Britain will be trained up to fill staff shortages in curry houses, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said.

The industry fears it will be hit hard by a new points-system for workers from outside the EU.

Mr Brown was asked to help ease shortages in kitchen staff, who used to be largely recruited from Bangladesh.

Mr Brown said he believed they had come to a "fair" position on immigration but he wanted to help people already in Britain train up to fill the jobs.

Last month the Home Office was urged to ease new restrictions on migrant workers for curry restaurants, of which there are about 9,000 in the UK.

Lack of staff

It is thought the industry employs at least 50,000 people - the majority of restaurants are Bangladeshi owned.

During his press conference Mr Brown was told there were about 25,000 unfilled vacancies in kitchens and some restaurants are faced with the threat of closure over a lack of staff.

We have come to a position on immigration that I believe people will see is a fair one Gordon Brown

Mr Brown said: "We will make it possible for people who are in this country to be trained to be either chefs or restaurant workers in the industry.

"We are doing far more to train than every before. We know there are people who, if trained, could make a contribution to the industry."

He said it was important, not only so people could contribute towards the British economy, but to become productive workers earning good salaries.

'Irreparable damage'

"We have come to a position on immigration that I believe people will see is a fair one," he said.

"That the new Australian points system is one that gives us the opportunity to decide on occasions what are the right needs for the British economy.

"But I have no doubt at the moment that one of the things we should be concentrating on is helping people in this country train for the industry, that is a very important industry and a very important part of our economy."

According to the Immigration Advisory Service, restrictions on lower-skilled workers from outside the EU are causing a labour shortage so severe it could cause "irreparable damage" to the curry industry.

It argues that attempts to get eastern Europeans to work in curry restaurants have failed because they do not have the "cultural sensitivity" required.

It wrote to the immigration minister Liam Byrne asking for the rules to be relaxed for catering workers from Bangladesh. But government officials said they had no plans to review the current arrangements.

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