Social Services
(asked on 13th May 2025) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the potential impact of her Department's White Paper entitled Restoring control over the immigration system, published on 12 May 2025 on social care.
The immigration White Paper, Restoring Control over the Immigration System, was collectively agreed across Government, and is available at the following link:
In the technical annex, published alongside the White Paper, the Home Office has estimated an annual reduction of approximately 7,000 main applicants as a result of ending overseas recruitment for care workers and senior care workers. This is based on their internal management information for entry visas granted covering the period March 2024 to February 2025. This estimate reflects that there was a drop in visa grants of more than 90% compared with the 12 months ending in March 2024, when more than 83,000 entry visas were granted to care workers and senior care workers. The analysis in the technical annex will be refined and included within the relevant impact assessments accompanying the rule changes, as appropriate. The technical annex is available at the following link:
As set out in the immigration White Paper, visa extensions and in-country switching for those already in the country and with working rights will be permitted for a transition period until 2028. This will be kept under review.
DHSC are providing up to £12.5m to regional partnerships in 2025/26 to respond to unethical international recruitment practices in the adult social care sector. This includes supporting international recruits impacted by sponsor licence revocations to find alternative employment.
Care workers are essential to those who draw on care and support, helping them to maintain their quality of life, independence, and connection to the things that matter to them. In England, as per the Care Act 2014, it is the responsibility of local government to develop a market that delivers a wide range of sustainable, high-quality care and support services, that will be available to their communities. English local authorities have responsibility under the Care Act 2014 to meet social care needs, and statutory guidance directs them to ensure there is sufficient workforce in adult social care.
The Department continues to monitor adult social care workforce capacity, bringing together national data sets from Skills for Care’s monthly tracking data, the Capacity Tracker tool, and intelligence from key sector partners.