Social Issues Editor
Getty ImagesCare providers say they are stealing the “lifeline” of overseas recruitment without fixing an issue that makes it difficult for the government to hire UK staff.
Prime Minister Kielstarmer announced sweeping reforms for immigrants on Monday, including plans to close recruitment for care workers from overseas.
Even though staff were brought in from other countries, official estimates show that there were 131,000 social care vacancy in the UK last year.
The nursing care company said some services struggle to survive without international recruits.
“The sector is supported by declining resources, rising costs and increasing availability,” said Professor Martin Green of England.
“Now, there's no warning about (international recruitment), no funding, no alternatives, and it's not myopic. That's cruel,” he said.
Ir Kiel said the visa changes were part of the drive “to significantly reduce immigration” and the government wants to create a “controlled, selective and fair migration system.”
The government said care providers can expand visas for existing staff and recruit migrants who have already not yet found jobs in the UK. They also promised new fair pay contracts to care staff, hoping that businesses would recruit and train more people from the UK.
But Dr. Jane Townson of the Home Care Association said the government is introducing a “vacuum” change because fair wage contracts are a long way to go and “there are no plans to feed the needs of our nation.”
Social care has been in a crisis for years, with council services narrowing down, key staffing shortening and increasing demand from an aging population. Plans for reform have been delayed many times.
Care workers were applauding alongside healthcare workers during the pandemic, but that didn't lead to improved wages or status.
About 1.7 million people work in social care in the UK, according to the skill of CARE, the official organization that monitors employees. Often it is a minimum wage job or outweighs a minimum wage job, and the increased responsibilities and complexity of the support staff provided to seniors and disabled people is rarely recognized.
For example, if someone can earn more jobs during less, more intense hours in the supermarket, then frankly, that's an option that many people choose.
After Covid, some staff members left their care jobs as they felt burned out, and some still loved the job felt they could not afford to buy an increase in their living costs.
Between April 2021 and March 2022, social care vacancy reached a record high of 165,000, up 52% the previous year.
By December 2021, warnings of an imminent collapse made Boris Johnson's conservative government lacking care jobs, making it easier for businesses to see overseas for staff.
The recruits needed to earn a minimum of £20,480 a year to qualify for a visa, allowing them to take their families.
Overseas recruitment has increased rapidly. In 2022/23, 80,000 people arrived in the UK, working in care, and in 23/24 there were an additional 105,000 visas.
Many nursing companies said bringing in these staff is the difference between providing services and collapse. But there was also the abuse of this new route into the UK. For example, some people were exploited, ending up paying thousands of intermediaries for certificates of travel and sponsorship.
The Home Office says 470 care companies have been licensed to recruit international staff since 2022. It estimates that around 40,000 staff have been evacuated. Companies say many people are already finding alternative care work.
In March 2024, Rishi Sunak's conservative government tightened its visa requirements. This included saying recruits were no longer able to take their families. That has dropped significantly to the number of care workers arriving from overseas.
According to the government, between December 2024 and December 2024, people entering the UK were granted 9,500 visas.
However, in four years when staff shortages were the most severe, relatively few have been changed to encourage more UK people to work in care. There is a continuous government-funded recruitment campaign, talking about the need to improve staff wages and status, but many workers fear that solutions will be apart for a long time.
The independent Casey committee began work last month to plan social care for adults. The pastor is described as “once at one time, at the opportunity to transcend party politics and build a consensus on the future of the sector.” The first update is expected to be paid by next year and by 2028.
When the NHS is struggling, social care is more important than ever, as it can lock vulnerable people out of hospitals and help patients when they return home.
Many caregivers will say it's an incredibly rewarding job and that overseas recruitment is being shut down. The question is, what needs to be changed to ensure that more Britain people take on that role?
