Brexit: Granny's care workers needed more than fruit pickers says Age UK

Grannies are more important than Granny Smiths, said Age UK in its plea to the government to allow EU care workers to have the same rights as fruit pickers, so they can continue coming here to work after Brexit.

Credit: Smirart /Shutterstock

Age UK is calling on the government to enable EU care staff to continue working in the UK by exempting them from new rules that would bar EU nationals from taking up care jobs in the country.

The government’s Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has said high-skilled workers make a positive contribution to the British economy. It has recommended the government allow more high skilled migration, while restricting access for low skilled workers, such as those earning less than £30,000.

Charity boss: Does government think Granny Smiths are more important than Grannies?

But Age UK is arguing that care workers should be exempt from the new rule recommended by MAC that ‘low skilled EU workers’ should no longer have preferential access to the UK labour market after a UK withdrawal from the EU'.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK said: “The Government has granted a partial exemption from the new rules for fruit pickers and Age UK believes it should remove care workers from this proposed post Brexit regime altogether.

"Does the Government really think that being able to eat home grown Granny Smiths is more important than ensuring that ‘Grannies and Grandpas’ up and down the country can get the care they need?

“If Ministers do not budge on their current plans this will be the implication. They should do the right thing and allow EU nationals to continue to work in the care sector.

“The social care workforce is already struggling but if after a UK withdrawal we shut the door on staff from the EU we’ll make a bad situation even worse."

She also took issue with the government referring to care work as low skilled saying: “Care work is low paid, not low skilled, so it is quite wrong that it is being caught by the new rules proposed by the Migration Advisory Committee.”

Age UK has written to the Home Secretary Sajid Javid to inform him that care workers are low paid (with many earning far less than £30,000) but should not be classed as low skilled.

104,000 care jobs filled by EU nationals

Age UK has written to Home Secretary Sajid Javid

According to figures from Skills for Care, there are around 110,000 job vacancies in care in England and more than three in 10 staff leave their job each year. Meanwhile, some 104,000 care jobs are filled by EU nationals.

In London, one in seven care workers are from the EU and significant numbers work in the South, Home Counties, Midlands and Manchester.

‘Live in care’ is growing in popularity in the UK because most older people want to stay in their own homes for as long as possible.

With large numbers of live in workers from the EU, the charity has raised concerns over the impact of Brexit on live in carers who travel in and out of Britain regularly from other parts of the EU, rotating with one or more others.

It believes any disruption to travel after a ‘disorderly UK withdrawal from the EU’ would hit such arrangements badly, causing immediate issues for older people.

Live-in care firms in particular will struggle

Skills for Care figures reveal 130,000 new workers are needed each year just for the social care workforce to stand still. Age UK has warned that if care workers based in the EU are no longer able to work as live in carers in the UK, live-in care companies will struggle to meet rising demand for these services.

Around 650,000 extra jobs will be needed in adult care by 2035, according to Skills For Care, to match a growing ageing population and significant numbers of care staff are likely to reach retirement age in the next decade.

Bill is 90-years-old and needs round-the-clock home care, which he is happy to pay for, however there are not the care workers available. Bill said: "I’ve lived in this house since about the 60s".

His daughter said: “Of the various people that come and visit Dad, caring in his own home and the people that are working in his current nursing home, the majority of them are not from the United Kingdom.”

The charity has said it is yet to receive a reply from the Home Secretary in response to its concerns.

According to the Government’s ‘EU Settlement Scheme: statement of intent’ the rights of EU citizens living in the UK will not change until after 31 December 2020.

However, care companies suggest some EU nationals are already going home because they no longer feel welcome. There were 132,000 fewer EU citizens working in the UK in July-September 2018 than the year before, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: “As the Home Secretary has said, EU citizens make a huge contribution to our economy and to our society and we want them to stay.

“The social care sector is vital to the UK and our future immigration system will ensure that we have access to the skills and talents we need after the UK leaves the EU.

“As part of this, we are considering whether a lower salary threshold should apply for some roles in shortage. This is already in place for nurses, paramedics and some teaching and social care roles in short supply.

“The new skills-based immigration system will be implemented from 2021 following an extensive 12-month programme of engagement with businesses and stakeholders, including the social care sector across the UK and the EU and international partners.”