Care chiefs welcome call by migration advisers to fast-track visas for foreign care workers

Care chiefs have welcomed a formal recommendation by the Migration Advisory Committee to add care workers to the list of professions eligible for fast-tracked visas.

The social care sector is currently struggling with workforce shortages due to Brexit and the mandatory Covid vaccine policy.

In a bid to plug the gap, the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has now recommended that care workers should be made eligible for the Health and Care Visa. Recommendations by MAC tend to be accepted by ministers.

In a statement, the committee said: ‘Given the severe and increasing difficulties faced by the care sector, the report brings forward preliminary findings on adult social care. The MAC recommends the government make care workers immediately eligible for the health and care worker visa and place the occupation on the shortage occupation list (SOL).

‘In the last few months, the government have agreed to some temporary visas for various occupations such as HGV drivers, poultry workers and butchers.

‘The MAC believes there is a balancing act between maintaining the general principles of the new skilled worker route and not being completely inflexible in the face of challenges that may have substantial consequences for the economy – some of which are the result of the pandemic.’

Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, said: “Care England has long called for care workers to be on the Shortage Occupation List and is therefore very pleased that the Migration Advisory Committee has put forward this very important recommendation to government. There is an acute workforce shortage in adult social care now so this recommendation cannot be enacted fast enough.”

The recommendation was also welcomed by Dr Jane Townson, Homecare Association's chief executive, who said: "The Homecare Association has long been calling for a review of migration policy for social care, addition of care workers to the Shortage Occupation List and a reduction in the costs involved in enabling workers from overseas to be recruited. Indeed, we wrote to the Minister for Care in July 2021 to make these, and other, recommendations."

Making foreign care workers eligible for the Health and Care Worker Visa "will allow employers to sponsor care workers subject to a minimum salary of £20,480 per year – equivalent to £10.10 per hour for a full-time worker.

"We are also pleased that the Migration Advisory Committee has recognised the prohibitive costs involved in recruiting from overseas and has suggested that the government looks for ways to reduce the financial cost to SME care providers of recruitment through the immigration system."

Michael Voges, executive director of ARCO (Associated Retirement Communities Operator) added: “It is clear from this report that we need far more care workers – but that we also need to support our care workers in how they deliver care by backing new and innovative models of housing-with-care provision such as Integrated Retirement Communities.

"We need to provide care and support earlier on to keep older people healthy and independent for longer – reducing their needs for care in future. We can also save much of the time which care workers spend travelling between appointments by providing older people more good downsizing options where care and support is available if they need it."

The leading care home jobs site, carehome.co.uk, has seen the number of jobs posted climb to its highest ever level. It currently has over 9,000 jobs listed. In January 2021 it had 4,832 listed, by August this had nearly doubled to 8,142. In August 2020, job vacancies stood at 4,959 and in August 2019, they were 5,241.

A report by Skills for Care in October revealed that an average of 6.8 per cent of roles in the adult social care sector were vacant in the year 2020/21. This is equivalent to 105,000 jobs being advertised on any given day.

The Migration Advisory Committee is currently in the middle of a commission investigating the impact of the ending of freedom of movement on the adult social care sector. It will be producing the final report in April 2022.