The growing lack of IT graduates from university may have a negative effect on the public sector in the UK, according to a leading organisation.

In a report from the British Computer Society (BCS), it emerged that the need for IT workers was outstripping the amount of properly-trained individuals available, with the credit crunch having little effect on the IT support industry.

A government relations spokesman at the BCS, David Evans, said that this shortage of workers was bound to have an effect on core services in the country unless the problem was addressed properly.

Mr Evans said: "Those who can afford to raise salaries and become more aggressive about their recruitment are going to be the ones who attract the best IT graduates."

The BCS was incorporated by the Royal Charter in 1984 and promotes both the study and practice of computing in society, highlighting the benefits of technological knowledge to the public as a whole.

In a recent survey of SMEs for Connect, the two most important benefits of outsourcing were 'guaranteed response times' and 'allowing in-house IT staff to concentrate on more strategic issues'.