New guidelines will give hiring care workers in England priority. Companies will have to give hiring foreign care workers in England priority over hiring them from abroad. Yesterday, March 12, the new regulations were introduced in Parliament.
Care providers who wish to hire a new employee from abroad starting on April 9 must first demonstrate that they have made an effort to hire an employee from England who requires new sponsorship. As we restore order to our immigration system through our Plan for Change, this will assist remove the dependency on overseas recruiting and guarantee that those who come to the UK to seek a career in adult social care can do so.
Much effort has been made by the government and the care industry to guarantee good standards in the immigration system and to assist care workers in finding other employment if their sponsor’s licence has been revoked. As part of our proposal for Change, we will lay out a detailed proposal to fix our flawed immigration system, tying the visa, immigration, and skills systems together to increase our domestic workforce, reduce our need on foreign labour, and spur economic growth.
Changes to the Short-Term Student route are part of the government’s ongoing efforts to combat exploitation and crack down on abuse in the immigration system.
The purpose of the visa is to allow students to study English for six to eleven months in the UK, but there are growing worries that those who don’t really intend to study or who plan to leave the country at the end of their term are abusing the system. Tough new regulations will give caseworkers more authority to reject visa applications that are thought to be fraudulent in view of this alarming trend.
The Minister of Citizenship and Migration, Seema Malhotra, stated:
It should be possible for those who have travelled to the UK to assist our adult care system to do so without being mistreated or taken advantage of.
We have already taken steps to prevent companies from taking advantage of foreign workers for expenses they were always expected to pay or from breaking the law with minimal repercussion.
We are now taking it a step further and mandating that employers in England hire international care workers who are already in the country and looking for fresh sponsorship before hiring new ones from abroad.
firms who frequently violate immigration or employment regulations are prohibited from employing foreign workers, and the new requirements will assist those individuals in finding other employment. These measures are part of government action announced in November to crack down on firms who misuse the visa system.
Additionally, the amendments announced last year prohibit employers from charging employees for the cost of their sponsorship, which was never intended and has resulted in unjust treatment of employees, exploitation, and unmanageable debt levels in the care industry.
In an effort to combat misuse and exploitation, the government revoked approximately 470 sponsor licenses in the care industry between July 2022 and December 2024. Since October 2020, these sponsors have been linked to over 39,000 employees.
The minimum salary thresholds will also be revised in light of today’s announcements to take into account the most recent Office for National Statistics (ONS) statistics. This will guarantee that care workers and other individuals employed under the Skilled Worker visa receive at least £12.82 per hour.
To match the most recent national pay scales, the minimum rates for jobs in the health and education sectors—such as physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, and teachers—will also be raised.
The Minister of State for Care, Stephen Kinnock, stated:
In our social care workforce, foreign carers are essential. We appreciate their efforts and support of those in need throughout the nation on a daily basis.
We must make every effort to reintegrate the victims into fulfilling employment in adult social care while we take action against dishonourable rogue operators who take advantage of foreign workers in the UK.
Giving priority to care workers who are currently in the UK will help individuals return to their jobs, lessen our dependency on foreign hiring, and ensure that our social care system has the care experts it requires.
The regulations are part of a larger set of steps the government is taking to lessen the possibility of misuse of the student and graduate visa programs.
The government’s upcoming Immigration White Paper will include more information on its strategy to lower the startlingly high levels of legal migration observed in recent years.