(Bloomberg) — The UK government will force employers in the care sector to hire migrant workers already in Britain before they can recruit from abroad, in its latest attempt to bring down the huge number of people arriving in the country through legal routes.
New rules announced on Wednesday mean employers in the social care sector, who look after elderly and disabled clients, must first prove they attempted to recruit international workers in the UK who need a new employer.
The Home Office is increasingly worried that rogue employers are abusing the Health & Care Visa route, which was introduced in 2020 in response to rising staffing vacancies in the care sector as Covid-19 hit and Brexit prompted many European Union workers to leave the UK.
It created a fast-track system allowing care businesses to recruit from abroad by sponsoring a worker, and more than 300,000 people — or almost 745,000 including their dependents — have entered the UK on such a visa up to the end of 2024. They are only able to work for their sponsoring employer, bar 20 hours a week they can complete for another employer in the same sector.
However Bloomberg has spoken to more than 50 migrant care workers who claim they were illegally charged thousands of pounds for their Certificates of Sponsorship, given to them by UK employers. While some were able to work when they came to the UK, others were told that their employer didn’t actually have any hours for them, so received no salary.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has vowed to reduce migration to the UK, which hit a record of 906,000 in the year to June 2023 and is still historically high. Concerns around the pressure this is placing on public services prompted protests which descended into right-wing violence shortly after Labour took office last summer.
Between July 2022 and December 2024, the government has revoked more than 470 sponsor licenses in the care sector due to allegations of abuse and exploitation, the Home Office said. More than 39,000 workers have been associated with these sponsors since October 2020, and the Home Office was only able to confirm that around 10,000 of those people had been able to find a new role.
“Those who have come to the UK to support our adult care sector should have the opportunity to do so, free from abuse and exploitation,” said Seema Malhotra, minister for migration and citizenship.
The Home Office did not disclose in its statement how it would police whether care employers had tried to recruit domestically. It said more information would be included in its Immigration White Paper, which is due in the first half of this year.
Care workers’ minimum salary thresholds will be updated to reflect the latest official pay data, ensuring all staff are paid a minimum of £12.82 ($16.632) per hour.
The Home Office also announced changes to the Short-Term Student route, which was designed for those studying an English language course in the UK for 6 to 11 months. It is concerned that this route is being abused by those who have no intention to leave the country when their visa expires, and the new rules will give caseworkers new powers to reject applications which they suspect are not genuine.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
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