UK Government Mulls Immigration Exemptions for Care Workers Amid Social Care Reform Push

The Home Office is reviewing proposals by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to lengthen the period migrant workers must wait for indefinite leave to remain (ILR). Sources say the government is considering a carve-out that would exempt existing care-sector migrants from the tougher rules while applying the changes to new entrants. The measure is not expected to appear in the prime minister’s speech next week but could be introduced later in the year after the Home Office reviews public-consultation responses.

The Guardian

Social-care providers report severe financial pressure, citing low-value contracts with local authorities that limit service delivery. The sector has long relied on roughly 200,000 health- and care-worker visas granted by the Home Office over the past five years, many of which include dependants. Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who plans to launch a National Care Service before the next general election, has highlighted personal experience with his father’s Alzheimer’s as a driver for rapid reform. He has also pledged to accelerate Louise Casey’s review of the care system, originally due in 2028, and to consider additional funding for the £9 billion Better Care Fund.

The Guardian

Burnham has indicated short-term fixes could include increasing the Better Care Fund to finance free short-term care for patients discharged from hospital, aiming to reduce readmissions to acute care. Long-term financing may involve new taxes, a concept previously floated as a 10 percent levy on estates after inheritance tax was rejected as a “death tax.” Casey, commissioned by former health secretary Wes Streeting, warns that the UK faces a “moment of reckoning” over chronic under-investment in care for frail elderly and disabled adults.

The Guardian

Andrea Egan, general secretary of Unison, argues that vulnerable people with complex needs will not receive adequate support unless the government prioritises recruitment and retention, calling for the abandonment of any policy that pushes migrant care workers out of the UK.

The Guardian

• “Vulnerable people and those with complex needs won’t get the help they deserve unless ministers focus on recruitment and retention. That means dropping plans to push migrant care workers out of the UK.” — Unison, the general secretary

The Guardian