New immigration rules could cause ‘black hole’ of almost 500,000 care home workers, trade union warns

No exemption for migrant care workers from demand for £25,600 minimum salary threshold

New immigration rules being brought in by home secretary Priti Patel could result in a “black hole” of almost half a million care home workers, a trade union has warned.

Branding Ms Patel’s plan as “slapdash”, the GMB warned that cutting off the supply of recruits from overseas will worsen the crisis in the adult social care sector, which already has 110,000 unfilled vacancies.

Under the new immigration policy announced last month and due to come into force on 1 January 2021, there will be no exemption for the social care sector from a new £25,600 minimum earnings threshold designed to keep out low-skilled workers.

With average earnings of just £16,200 in privately run care facilities, the GMB said this would leave the sector effectively unable to recruit from abroad unless the government provides funding for a substantial increase in pay.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics found that 115,000 care workers currently in the UK are originally from EU countries while a further 237,000 were born elsewhere in the world. Coupled with the 110,000 vacancies, the union said that this could leave the sector short of 460,000 workers if Ms Patel’s policy is implemented.

The sector already has a vacancy rate of 8 per cent, compared with an average of 2.8 per cent across the economy as a whole.

Ms Patel has previously dismissed concerns about difficulties filling low-paid jobs following the introduction of her regime, arguing that replacements for foreign workers could be found among the UK’s 8.5 million “economically inactive” citizens, even though this includes students and people unable to work because of illness or caring responsibilities.

GMB national officer Rachel Harrison said: “Care in the UK is facing almost a 500,000-person black hole thanks to the government’s insulting immigration policy and failure to properly fund the sector.

“For the likes of the home secretary to brand the care workers our whole society relies on as ‘low-skilled’ is a bit rich and has caused stress and anxiety for people who do an outstanding job day in, day out.

“For too long care workers have faced inadequate rates of pay, lack of recognition for their skills and denial of opportunities for progression. We are determined to defend our members of all nationalities when their jobs are under threat.

“The demand on social care services is increasing every day, workloads are already unmanageable, and the government has no plan for filling the black hole of almost half a million workers that could result from their policy.

“At a time when our care system is facing its greatest ever crisis, this government seems determined to hack away at its greatest asset – our carers.”

There will be no exemption for the social care sector from a new £25,600 minimum earnings threshold designed to keep out low-skilled workers

(Alamy)

A report by the Migration Advisory Committee warned earlier this year that the earnings threshold would “increase pressure on social care [and] raise the dependency ratio”.

The committee said that “the very real problems in this sector are caused by a failure to offer competitive terms and conditions, something that is itself caused by a failure to have a sustainable funding model”.

The Home Office said: “The Migration Advisory Committee has been clear that immigration is not the solution to addressing staffing levels in the social care sector. Senior care workers who meet the criteria will still be able to come to the UK through the points-based system.

“We are working alongside employers to ensure the workforce has the right number of people to meet increasing demands and have recently launched a national recruitment campaign. We are also providing councils with access to an additional £1.5bn for adults and children’s social care in 2020-21.”