Immigration Controls "Guillotine" on Care Sector, Experts Warn

Strategic Insights -

The UK's new immigration controls announced by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer are set to devastate the care sector, with homes warning of closures, cancelled NHS operations, and longer waiting lists. Experts warn that the moves, which include making migrants wait 10 years to apply for settlement or citizenship, increasing English language requirements, and tightening visa rules, will be catastrophic for the sector.

Key Takeaways:

  • The care sector is heavily reliant on migrant workers, with a third of the 1500 staff at Renaissance Care being overseas employees, and the industry warns that scrapping care visas will be "potentially catastrophic".
  • The sector is already struggling with a huge recruitment crisis, and recent changes in eNIC's and increases in employers' national insurance contributions have made it even harder to attract and retain staff.
  • Care workers are highly skilled and regulated practitioners, requiring professional qualifications, and implying they are "lower skilled workers" is misinformed and damaging to the sector's reputation.
  • The industry warns that the new rules will lead to more care home closures, cancelled NHS operations, and longer waiting lists, and will have a huge impact on employment in the National Health Service and on social care.
  • Dr Robert Kilgour, chairman of Renaissance Care, said: "I could not run the care homes without those staff. People seem to think they're being used as a cheaper option, that's a complete fallacy. Overseas staff are more expensive because of all the charges."
  • Hazel Brown, Chief Executive of Cornerstone, a leading Scottish social care charity, said: "This is yet another blow for the sector which is already struggling with a huge recruitment crisis, coupled with recent changes in eNIC's."
  • The GMB Union warned that scrapping care visas will be "deeply damaging" for the sector, with Will Dalton, GMB National Officer, saying: "The whole sector is utterly reliant on migrant workers - yet we still have more than 130,000 vacancies across the country."

Statistics:

  • 1500 staff at Renaissance Care, with a third being overseas employees.
  • 130,000 vacancies in the care sector across the country.
  • 10 years waiting period for migrants to apply for settlement or citizenship.
  • 100% increase in required standards of English for those coming to the UK.
  • 50% increase in visas testing for colleges and universities offering places to foreign students.

Sources:

  • ("It's incredibly difficult for us to attract, train and maintain a domestic workforce when your main customer refuses to pay for it") by Robert Kilgour, chairman of Renaissance Care.
  • ("Tightening the visa rules is going to make a bad situation even worse") by Hazel Brown, Chief Executive of Cornerstone.
  • ("Scrapping this visa will be deeply damaging - potentially catastrophic for our beleaguered care system") by Will Dalton, GMB National Officer.