Curry houses crisis prompts plea to home secretary

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith was under fresh pressure last night to safeguard the future of curry houses across the north-east of Scotland.

Tough new laws introduced in February to crack down on illegal immigrants have resulted in many restaurants and takeaways finding it difficult to hire experienced and trained chefs from the Asian sub-continent. Some restaurant owners have warned MSPs they could go out of business if urgent action to relax the rules is not taken.

The north-east Bangladeshi Association estimates that about 65 vacancies currently exist for chefs, cooks and kitchen assistants.

Aberdeen North SNP MSP Brian Adam has urged Ms Smith to consider introducing a scheme for semi-skilled workers to be able to obtain short-term work permits.

His plea comes after he was approached by several restaurant owners in Aberdeen who have complained of finding it difficult to recruit the right kind of staff. In a letter to the home secretary, he stated: “I am informed that around 1,000 people are employed in this industry in the north-east of Scotland.

“Yet many such businesses are under threat because they reportedly cannot get the staff they want from the Asian sub-continent, who have the required knowledge of authentic cuisine and culture, due to immigration restrictions.”

Around 100 restaurant owners staged a protest outside Holyrood in March, warning that the curry industry in Scotland would die if action was not taken to address the new immigration laws.

They claimed food quality would deteriorate and warned up to half of the Indian restaurants currently in business could shut.

Mr Adam has also called on his Scottish Government colleague Linda Fabiani, who is the minister for Europe, external affairs and culture, to lobby the UK Government because introducing a new permit scheme would be “beneficial both economically and culturally”.