CSSA defends use of fast track visa system on cost

The Chairman of the Computing Services & Software Association's (CSSA) Offshore Group has defended the fast track visa system as "an alternative to expensive contractors."

Simon Denison-Smith, who heads up the offshore division of the CSSA, a membership body for 760 UK-based software and IT service organisations, said the fast track visa scheme should be seen as an opportunity and not a threat, particularly for "software companies who face huge fluctuations in demand based on the sales cycle."

He said: "These companies mostly keep people on in the hope there will be a pick up in sales or they bring in contractors who are very expensive, but there is an alternative; to have offshore resources at more competitive prices.

"FTVs support this by allowing us to bring key people from India to the UK for face-to-face meetings with the client.

"The US has been doing it for the last 10 years, we needed the same thing here and I think it would represent a hurdle to our competitiveness if we didn't. On larger projects particularly, we might want someone from the Indian team to be based here, that's how we can use the visa system."

Mr Denison-Smith is also a Director of Rave Technologies, a company that provides software development services, both offshore in India, and on-site to clients in the UK.

The Rave Technologies website advises: "Placements are made available to Rave employees after a period working within the Rave infrastructure in India. These placements are to work on site with clients for period ranging from three months to two years, depending on availability."

The FTV scheme has been in the news recently as the Professional Contractors Group has had several successes in having certain IT skills, including C++, removed from the FTV skills shortage list.

Mr Denison-Smith said he was not aware of the PCG's campaign or what skills have been removed from the list so far.

He said: "I think the PCG is more focused on the body-shopping aspect of the system. Some agents in the UK bring in Indians and Eastern Europeans and that's not what we do. I do sympathise with that cause, but we're more of an off-shore services company."

UKTECH asked Mr Denison-Smith whether he believed this process was stopping UK contractors from obtaining work.

He replied: "We're a substitute for companies saying: 'Do I buy in contractors?' We're being sub-contracted to and are providing a service, two very different challenges.

"We help to assist companies to manage the peaks and troughs of demands; and reduce rates and costs."

The CSSA Offshore Group's website says: 'The long-term solution to our skills crisis must be at home. That will come when we succeed in re-branding the sector, when IT is glamorous enough to be the career of choice for a new generation. Until that time there will be sector-wide skill shortages that can only be remedied by importing skills from abroad. This has prompted a considerable lobbying effort by the CSSA which has held numerous meetings with the DTI and the DfEE and is now very pleased to welcome the Chancellor's budget decision to change the work permit rules.'

The fast track visa scheme is the popular name for the scheme where foreign workers with skills on the shortage occupation list are issued work permits (Tier 1); where firms advertise a post but cannot find anyone with a suitable skill and then apply on this basis to bring in workers from abroad (Tier 2); and also intra company transfers.