Government told to scrap immigration visa fees and give care workers £10.50 minimum wage

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has urged the government to remove all charges to immigration visas and set a minimum wage of £10.50 an hour for care workers in England to help alleviate the impact of workforce challenges.

The MAC report, which briefs ministers on immigration policy has put forward 19 recommendations, which it says will alleviate the challenges facing the social care sector, including recruitment and retention.

The National Care Forum (NCF) the Voluntary Organisations Disability Group (VODG) and the Homecare Association have welcomed the report and said this “reiterates some very important issues” which includes issues of underfunding and how this continues to “exacerbate challenges to providers”, high staff vacancy and turnover rates and the “impact of low pay and the care workforce challenges”.

'We know the true value of care work is much more'

Vic Rayner, chief executive of the NCF and member of the social care expert advisory for the MAC said: “While a focus on the minimum pay for care workers in this report is a helpful contribution to this issue, the NCF has consistently called for an independent pay review for social care, which involves employers, commissioners, and employee representatives with a view to implementing a new career-based pay and reward structure which is comparable with the NHS and equivalent sectors and fully-funded by central government.”

The VODG is also urging the government to "embrace" the committee’s recommendations to fully fund a rate of social care pay above the National Living Wage.

Dr Rhidian Hughes, chief executive of VODG said: "At present, charities are prevented from improving pay rates because funding passed down by central government to local authorities falls woefully insufficient.

“A fully funded £10.50 per hour social care rate would be a good start, but we know the true value of care work is much more. We need to be ambitious in rewarding talent for much needed social care.

“[The] government’s under-funding of social care holds us back in properly rewarding staff for the valuable work they do. The consequences are that we are not recruiting and retaining sufficient talent in the sector and that risks pulling away essential services for those that need them the most."

The Homecare Association warns the home care sector is in a "precarious state" after years of government under-investment in the sector with the "removal of infection control funds" and the "rapid increase in the cost of living".

Dr Jane Townson, chief executive of the Homecare Association said: "Recruiting and retaining home care workers has never been more difficult.

"Care workers are burnt out from the past two years of providing care non-stop through the pandemic, and a proportion are leaving the sector entirely to hospitality and retail where jobs have higher pay rates and less responsibility.

"Providers have never been more stretched, waiting lists for home care are at an all-time high and the true value of care workers is becoming ever more apparent."

'The report offers a further wake up call for government'

The MAC has also recommended the removal of the Immigration Skills Charge for all Health and Care Visas, and the decision to make care workers eligible for the visa should be made permanent and should not have an ‘automatic sunset date’.

The recommendation of settlement fees for those workers who spend the full five years working in the NHS and care sector on the Health and Care Visa should also be waived or lowered.

Ms Rayner said: “The report identifies funding and immigration policy as possible solutions to alleviate some of these issues and recommends a broader strategic and whole system approach.

“The findings of this report provides further evidence of the need for the government to act on the recommendations as a matter of urgency.”

Dr Townson said: "The Homecare Association has long been calling for a reduction in the costs involved in enabling workers from overseas to be recruited. We have written to the Minister for Care encouraging the government to make this a reality.

"We strongly endorse the Migration Advisory Committee's recommendation to the government to remove the Immigration Skills Charge for all Care Worker Visas and make visas permanently accessible to care workers.

"Changes to migration policy are needed urgently, as part of a wider range of approaches to increasing workforce capacity, to help ensure we have sufficient committed and skilled care workers to provide the quality of support we and our loved ones expect and deserve."

Dr Hughes added: “The Migration Advisory Committee’s report offers a further wake up call for government. The very best care and support for disabled and older people who need it most in society is provided by a committed social care workforce.”

To read the report in full, go to, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1071678/E02726219_CP_665_Adult_Social_Care_Report_Web_Accessible.pdf