Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of Earned Settlement proposals on vacancy rates for adult social care workers.

The Department of Health and Social Care works closely with the Home Office on issues relating to immigration and the adult social care sector, including the social care workforce.

The Government ran a public consultation on whether the existing pathway for settlement should be increased to 15 years for those admitted to the United Kingdom to work in occupations skilled below Regulated Qualifications Framework Level 6, under the Skilled Worker and Health and Care routes. This includes care workers and senior care workers.

The consultation, which ran for 12 weeks, opened on 20 November 2025 and closed on 12 February 2026. The Home Office is now reviewing and analysing all responses received. This analysis will help inform the development of the final earned settlement model.

Following analysis of the consultation responses, the necessary impact assessments will be undertaken.