UK care providers urged to review hiring practices

Joanne Ellis and Shara Pledger of Pinsent Masons were commenting after the UK government placed conditions on the recruitment of new workers from overseas and outlined plans to ensure new roles in the social care sector are filled by UK workers only in the coming years.

In March, the government confirmed that care providers intending to recruit a new overseas worker would first have to demonstrate that they have tried to recruit from the pool of existing care workers in the UK who need new sponsorship. That change took effect on 9 April.

On 12 May, home secretary Yvette Cooper went further, announcing more sweeping changes to UK immigration rules to curb net migration. In a statement delivered to MPs that accompanied a new government white paper on immigration, she criticised prior government policy that she said encouraged social care providers “to recruit from abroad with no proper regulation”.

Cooper said: “The introduction of the social care visa led not only to a huge increase in migration but also to a shameful and deeply damaging increase in abuse and exploitation. When proper checks were finally brought in, 470 care providers had their licence to sponsor international staff suspended. 39,000 care workers were displaced.”

“Overseas recruitment for care jobs has since dropped but it must not surge like that again. And it’s time we addressed domestic issues, including a proper fair pay agreement to show respect to people who do some of the most important jobs in the country. We are therefore ending overseas recruitment of care workers. It will continue to be possible to extend existing visas and to recruit displaced care workers and people already in the UK with working rights on other visas,” she said.

In recent years, some care providers have lost their licence to sponsor foreign workers owing to poor practice and not having the roles or work promised for those workers. This has resulted in a number of people who have relocated to the UK for care work losing their roles and resultant sponsorship. The Home Office wants to ensure care providers seek to re-hire these people back into the sector before offering jobs to migrant workers.

The policy now in effect will be strengthened by the proposals in the white paper, which envisages an end to overseas recruitment for social care visas by 2028. In the transition period up until then, existing visas will be able to be extended or switched – though the government said that this is to be kept under review.

Ellis said: “Care and healthcare providers need to be aware and in contact with the local pools of now unsponsored care workers in their area.”

“The industry is wary about the effect of the new immigration policies on their ability to fill vacancies and in turn deliver quality services. According to a survey by Care England published in March, 85.7% of adult social care providers cite low pay as the primary barrier to recruitment. Two in five providers said they had turned to international markets to recruit workers to fill vacancies. At the time, Care England said providers had reported ‘a sharp decline’ in visa applications in response to UK immigration policy changes despite highlighting how international recruitment had helped them ‘alleviate workforce shortages temporarily’,” Ellis said.

An 8.3% vacancy rate in the sector has been reported by Skills for Care, which is three times the average across all sectors of the economy. This amounts to around 105,000 vacancies.

In an article published on the Care England website earlier in March, the body said: “There needs to be a system wide long-term solution to improving domestic recruitment, as the recent and continuing changes to migration rules and increased costs only make the process harder. Providers are reaching a breaking point in trying to fill vacancies and the continued government efforts to supress international recruitment… Currently, the sector’s workforce remains afloat due to the rewards of historic international recruits and the current level of displaced workers, which without, would look vastly different – as currently, 19% of the workforce originates from overseas.”

Pledger said: “Care providers should be thinking about their hiring practices post-2028 and considering how they intend to recruit and attract talent in this sector. This is notoriously difficult as many British workers don't consider the hours and stress of care make it a viable career.”