ADASS warns on Government plan to ban social care workers from abroad
Plans to ban the recruitment of adult social care workers from abroad could lead to a shortage of workers and force providers to rely on expensive agency staff, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) has warned.
The Nuffield Trust thinktank meanwhile described the proposal as “hugely risky”.
The Government announced the move as part of wider plans to curb immigration and prioritise visas for "those who contribute most to economic growth, with higher skills standards for graduates and workers".
The white paper said it would end the adult social care visa programme, which allows care providers to recruit from overseas.
The white paper said the visa "has led to significant concerns" over the abuse and exploitation of individual workers.
Under a transition period lasting until 2028, the Government will permit visa extensions and in-country switching for those already here.
The Government previously restricted access to overseas recruitment unless employers have first tried to recruit from the in-country redeployment pool, "but the evidence shows more needs to be done", the white paper added.
Responding to the measures, ADASS President Jess McGregor recognised that there has been "some abuse of the current visa system" but said: "Thousands of older and disabled people rely on international workers for their care and support, who often take on positions which care companies struggle to fill.
"Cutting off this source of new workers without a plan about how to replace them domestically will worry many older and disabled people, their families and employers."
She added: "A shortage of care workers leads to a triple whammy of more reliance on agency staff who the person drawing on care won't know and who the provider will need to pay much more for, more people – especially women – giving up paid work to care for their loved ones, and many people potentially missing out on care altogether."
The Nuffield Trust also raised concerns about how the plan will impact recruitment for the sector.
Deputy Director of Policy, Natasha Curry, said: "Closing off international recruitment without properly addressing our poor domestic supply of care workers is hugely risky, but social care is rarely granted the political status it needs to be a government priority.
"It is absolutely right to crack down on the exploitation of overseas workers, but care providers won't be able to boost their domestic workforce overnight."
Jacqueline McKenzie, head of the immigration team at law firm Leigh Day, said: "The ideas in the white paper are aimed at the wrong groups of people. Government set out to control borders, but these measures won’t do that. The language implying the UK is becoming a land of strangers is offensive and contradictory to the opening salvo that we are a country built on immigration.
"Care workers don’t affect our borders and whilst we have a crisis in the social care sector, without clear plans to address the gaps in provision, which weren’t even being met by the social care visas far less in country recruitment, these measures are likely going to exacerbate this crisis. This is the same with students. Universities are all facing a serious financial crisis. Some of these rely very heavily on overseas students, so how will these gaps be filled?”
Adam Carey
