Home Secretary’s Immigration Reform Plan Risks Deepening Social-Care Staffing Shortage

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced plans to extend the period required for most immigrants to qualify for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) from five to ten years, with a proposed fifteen-year threshold for care workers. The proposal follows a recent crackdown on visas for overseas care staff and would apply retrospectively to those already in the sector.

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Since the Conservative government barred care workers from bringing family members in March 2024 and later terminated the dedicated care-worker visa route in July 2025, the flow of migrant recruits has fallen sharply. Union-commissioned analysis shows international hires dropped from 105,000 in 2023-24 to 30,000 in 2025-26, a decline of 75,000. At the same time, the number of social-care positions filled by British workers fell by 70,000, according to the charity Skills for Care. The sector now faces roughly 96,000 vacancies.

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Unison, the Labour-affiliated union for public-sector workers, warned that the reforms will exacerbate existing shortages. Labour MP Steve Yemm (Mansfield) described the measures as “wrong by every measure” and cautioned that extending settlement times could jeopardise the Prime Minister’s goal of a national care service.

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• “Attempts to force existing staff out of the country are wrong by every measure. If the Government doesn’t drop these plans, the Prime Minister’s hope of transforming the lives of millions through a national care service will never happen.” — Steve Yemm

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