Blitz Bureau
THE UK government has introduced new rules requiring care sector employers to prioritise hiring migrant workers already in the country before recruiting from abroad. The move is part of efforts to reduce the number of people arriving through legal migration routes.
“From April 9, care providers who want to recruit a new worker from overseas will have to first prove that they have attempted to recruit a worker from within England who needs new sponsorship. This ensures that those who came to the UK to pursue a career in adult social care can do so and will help end the reliance on overseas recruitment as we restore order to our immigration system through our Plan for Change,” said the UK Home Office in a statement.
The rules mean social care employers must first demonstrate that they have attempted to recruit international workers already in the UK who need a new employer.
Seema Malhotra, Minister for Migration and Citizenship, said, “Those who have come to the UK to support our adult care sector should have the opportunity to do so, free from abuse and exploitation.
“We have already taken action to ensure employers are not able to flout the rules with little consequence or exploit international workers for costs they were always supposed to pay.
“We are now going further, requiring employers in England to prioritise recruiting international care workers who are already here and seeking new sponsorship, before recruiting from overseas”. The Home Office is concerned that some employers are abusing the Health & Care Visa route, which was launched in 2020 to tackle staffing shortages following Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic. The visa allows care businesses to sponsor workers from overseas, and more than 300,000 people—or nearly 745,000 including dependents—have entered the UK on this route by the end of 2024.
