Sunak warned ‘disastrous’ visa changes could cut care workers by thousands

Health leaders have warned Rishi Sunak that “perverse” new visa rules will prove disastrous for the care sector, The Independent can reveal.

Changes to visas for care workers, which block their right to bring family members to the UK, will be a “seismic step backwards” for the NHS and social care, the coalition told the prime minister in a letter.

The government announced the tough new immigration rules last Monday, which it says will reduce the number of people able to move to the UK by hundreds of thousands each year.

The new rules will mean care workers from overseas who do not work for the NHS will no longer be able to bring dependent relatives with them to Britain.

In a letter, seen by The Independent, from the Cavendish Group – which includes NHS Confederation, NHS Employers, the British Medical Association, Independent Healthcare Providers Network and National Care Association – Mr Sunak was warned that the crackdown would prove “disastrous”.

The warning, sent on Friday, said: “We are profoundly concerned that the government’s other changes to the Health and Care Visa risk taking us a seismic step backwards. As you know, the social care and health workforce would not be able to function without its international colleagues.

“To assume therefore that care workers would work in the UK without their dependants will be disastrous to our services and make the UK a less attractive place for much-needed social care staff weighing up where they might choose to work.”

The letter also warned: “With the NHS being exempt from changes to the Health and Care Visa, there is also a danger that this new policy will perversely increase competition between social care and health on international recruitment.”

In February 2022 the government implemented a recommendation by the Migration Advisory Committee to include care workers on the shortage occupation list.

The Cavendish Group said this had led to some improvements in the adult social care workforce which currently has a 9.9 per cent vacancy gap.

According to data, between March 2022 and March 2023, an estimated 70,000 people arrived in the UK and started to work in the care industry.

However, Skills for Care, which collects data on the UK’s adult social care workforce, warned the county will need 25 per cent more workers, a total of 440,000, to meet demand by 2035.

Danny Mortimer, chief executive for NHS Employers, told The Independent the new “high risk” policy from the government was announced without any consultation with the health and care leaders impacted by it.

The Cavendish Group has called on the government to share evidence it has seen on the likely impact the new policy will have on social care staffing shortages and waiting times in the NHS.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The prime minister has made clear current levels of migration to the UK are far too high. That is why the government announced a plan this week to decisively cut net migration and create a system that works for the British people.

“We have a longstanding principle that anyone bringing dependants to live in the UK must be able to financially support them. The minimum income requirement ensures that families are self-sufficient instead of relying on public funds, with the ability to integrate if they are to play a full part in British life.”

A government spokesperson said: “We continue to face unprecedented levels of immigration since the pandemic, which is why the prime minister and home secretary have announced a plan to slash migration levels, curb abuse of the system and deliver the biggest-ever reduction in net migration.

“The home secretary has committed to put estimates of the impact of these announcements in the House of Commons Library. This will be set out in due course and a regulatory impact assessment will be developed.”

This story was updated with a response from the Home Office and government