A councillor has called on the government to make it easier for foreign workers to take on care jobs in Cumbria.
The health and care worker visa scheme was introduced by the Conservative government in 2022, allowing foreign workers to come to the United Kingdom to work in the country’s health and social care sectors.
The scheme was implemented to address labour shortages in those sectors.
But last year, the Labour government proposed changes to the immigration system, including stopping employers from recruiting care workers from abroad.
Now, it is proposing making the time period until overseas workers are eligible for ‘indefinite leave to remain’ – meaning permanent residence – longer.
Councillor Patricia Bell, cabinet member for adult care, said the council would be in a ‘desperate situation’ if foreign care workers are forced to go home.
She said: “Whilst there is variation, approximately 40 per cent of our paid care provider workforce are sponsored overseas care workers.
“It doesn’t take too much imagination to understand the desperate situation we will find ourselves in if they go home.”
She said that, therefore, she signed an open letter to the Home Secretary alongside other portfolio holders for adult social care at other councils
The letter ‘urged’ the government to: “Provide certainty for overseas care workers who are already living and working in the UK and rule out retrospectively changing the goalposts for workers rights to require indefinite leave to remain.
“We recognise the government’s desire to reduce long-term dependence on overseas recruitment and to build a stronger domestic workforce – that is an ambition that we share.
“However, these objectives should not come at the expense of the dedicated care workers who are already here, already supporting those vulnerable members of our communities and already making a significant contribution to our economy and public services.”
Cllr Bell said that councils across the country are facing ‘unprecedented demand’ for adult social care and already struggle to recruit and retain ‘sufficient’ staff.
She added: “The overseas workers affected by these proposals did exactly what successive governments asked of them – they came to the UK legally to fill recognised shortages.
“They have built their lives here, contributed to taxation, supported local economies and provided compassionate care.”
She said it would be ‘unfair and economically damaging’ to remove them ‘while the workforce crisis remains unresolved’.
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