YOU can never have too many Australians in a British office. For a start, teasing them when they lose at sport is a fantastic de-stressing technique.

Unfortunately, changes to working holiday visa laws mean that Aussies — and their fellow Commonwealth citizens from countries such as New Zealand and South Africa — will see that the amount of workplace fun they can provide has been cut in half. They used to be allowed to work in the UK for two years, but in February this was cut to one, reports Local Government Chronicle (Sept 1).

But the London boroughs getting upset over this aren’t simply worried that they’ll lose the office whipping boy: an alliance of West London councils, the Association of London Government and the Planning Officers Society, says that they fear big problems in their planning, regeneration and environmental services departments, as well as in school teacher numbers.

“The reduction of the working period to 12 months could have a seriously detrimental impact on the provision of public services in London,” they say in a letter to Tony McNulty, the Immigration Minister.

A survey by the alliance found that the average borough had five or six Commonwealth planners, while one had 18. “All boroughs are concerned at the change and the potential impact,” the alliance says. Graham Jones, the president of the Planning Officers Society and the director of strategic planning at Harrow Council, says that the visa issue is particularly affecting London and the South East “but is spreading to other parts of the country”.

A spokeswoman for the Home Office says that the working holiday visa was reduced to one year to protect it from people trying to use it to enter the UK for long-term jobs. “It is not a route to solving skills shortages,” she says.

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