Engineering recruiters are supporting calls from the Association of Consulting Engineers (ACE) for the Home Office to allow work permits for a wider variety of engineering disciplines to fill the skills shortage.

ACE, which has delayed its report on the skills crisis in the sector, wants Work Permits UK, which oversees the flow of immigrant workers, to relax rules on migrants.

Jon Blaze, East Midlands regional manager for Jonathan Lee Recruitment, told Recruiter that there needed to be more recognition from the Home Office of the skills shortage. "When the Home Office talks about it, they talk about a shortage of railway, ground and structural engineers," he said.

"There's a shortage in other areas, such as utilities, manufacturing and some areas of civil engineering."

Keith Gallagher, managing director of Roevin UK, added that his sector must present "a united front" to government to secure more funding for engineering and help key projects be completed on time.

"Shouting across the fence at each other doesn't really solve anything but working together tends to resolve things," says Gallagher.

"The ACE and Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) need to work more closely together to get a message to government."

Problems could be eased from January under new rules to be unveiled by the Home Office. The new immigration system will be points-based, which is similar to the Australian model.

The scheme will have five tiers by which people can enter the UK, with engineers admitted as part of the second tier.