Plummeting Visa Numbers Leave Social Care Sector in Crisis
There has been a substantial decrease in the number of Health and Care Worker visas granted in the UK over the past year, leading to fresh concerns over a social care workforce ‘crisis’.
Latest figures reveal an 65% annual fall in visa grants when compared with data from 2023, and follows the conservative government’s decision last year to ban direct care workers arriving from overseas from bringing dependents on their visa.
Government data reveals that there were just 13,131 Health and Care Worker visa grants between April to September 2024 – down from 80,541 grants in the same period the year before (-84%).
In total, 50,591 such visas were awarded in the year ending September 2024 – a 65% decrease when compared to 2023.
The number of Health and Care Worker visas had previously increased by 114,023 between 2021 and 2023, hit the highest point at 145,823 in the year ending December 2023.
However, the volume of visas issued to care workers and home carers has fallen since the latter part of 2023.
The decrease follows increased inspection from the Home Office to employers in the health and social care sector, and comes after measures were introduced to prevent social care workers from bringing dependents when they migrate to the UK.
Since March of this year, care workers have been unable to bring dependents with them to the UK.
Care England has expressed grave concerns at the new figures This stark decrease, with grants falling by 84% between April and September 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, highlights the devastating impact of immigration policy changes on the adult social care workforce.
Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive of Care England, said:
“Behind these numbers are real people; compassionate and skilled individuals who want to care for others but are being shut out. The decision to ban health and care workers from bringing their partners and children to the UK last December was short-sighted and profoundly damaging. It sent a message that these workers are welcome only for their labour, not as whole people with families and aspirations.
We are already battling a domestic workforce crisis, with 70,000 fewer British workers in the sector over the past two years. The pipeline of international recruits was keeping services afloat, but now even that lifeline is being cut off, and care providers are left scrambling to fill shortages, unable to deliver the amount of care they once could. How can we build a compassionate system when the workers at its heart are treated with such little regard?
We cannot solve the care crisis if we ask workers to leave behind their loved ones to come here. Restoring the right to bring dependants is not just the humane thing to do, it’s essential to attracting the workforce we desperately need. Let us ensure that those who care for others can also care for their own families.”
The ban on bringing dependants, introduced late last year, has created a two-tier system where NHS staff and other skilled workers can bring their families, but care workers, who are equally essential, are excluded. This disparity not only undermines recruitment efforts but further devalues the vital role of care workers.
Care England is urging the government to:
- Restore the right for care workers to bring their dependants to the UK, acknowledging their essential role in society and treating them with the dignity and respect they deserve.
- Increase investment in the sector to enhance pay, working conditions, and career opportunities for both international and domestic care workers, creating an attractive and sustainable workforce.
- Establish a fully funded, long-term workforce plan for adult social care, integrating these reforms and more to secure the sector’s future and meet the growing demand for care.
“Care work is about connection and compassion. It’s time the government showed the same compassion to the people who make it possible,” Professor Green concluded.
