IN recent years there have been calls to ensure that the UK is able to provide its residents and businesses with power produced within its borders, reducing the need for dependency on overseas sources. This way, in the unlikely event that the UK loses its connections to external power sources, there will be little impact on the smooth running of our daily lives.

We are now facing a similar issue with regard to the UK workforce. In the same way that energy supplies from other countries can be affected by a variety of conditions, the UK’s skills base is currently reliant on an influx of trained people from other countries.

The Government is currently consulting on an immigration cap, the final figure for which is undecided, but will come into force from April next year. This cap may reduce the economic strain on some aspects of public finances, but without proper considerations, it may cause long-term problems for UK businesses.

If the amount of skilled workers entering the UK workforce from abroad is reduced, then we need to be able to fill that gap with properly-trained people from within the UK.

To this end, the Government needs to employ a skills strategy which works hand-inhand with the proposed cap on immigration to deliver the right balance of skilled employees for the future.

New sectors are emerging all the time, and our education system needs to have prepared people for the challenges which these industries will bring.

This is why the Government must take a long-term view of the cap on immigration.

Those involved in the consultation need to look at what skills are needed for a successful workforce right now, and what will be needed in the future. People who will follow careers in emerging industries, such as renewable energy, require a thorough grounding at school level to be effective in later life – which means that the Government’s skills and immigration strategies must work hand-in-hand to ensure that the UK’s pool of skilled workers does not diminish in the interim.

The plans as they stand could make it very difficult for businesses to thrive while our workforce is trained to meet requirements.

We would end up with a UK workforce which is not flexible enough to compete with other countries, leading foreign companies to dismiss the UK as a potential base. Even more damaging, domestic companies may choose to relocate to countries with a more established skills base.

If the Government is to turn off the tap on skilled workers from abroad, it needs to work closely with business to ensure that the UK has an effective form of skills security in place.

■ James Ramsbotham is chief executive of the North East Chamber of Commerce