Only way to sort social care crisis is to hike wages, admit migration advisers
Carers must be paid a proper wage to resolve chronic staffing issues and drive down immigration, the Government's top migration advisers warn today.
The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) said it was "deeply disappointed" that ministers "exhibit no ambition in this area" as it demanded wage hikes for low-paid care workers. In its annual report published today, the MAC said foreign health and care workers and international students were biggest drivers of net migration, which peaked at 745,000 last year.
Tory plans to cut net migration - the difference between the number of people arriving in the UK and leaving it - have stoked fears social care could be pushed to the brink of collapse. Of the 1.52million staff in the sector, around 70,000 came from overseas in 2022/23 to plug gaps in the workforce. Low pay and chronic underfunding have been blamed for the 152,000 vacancies in the sector.
The Government will ban overseas workers from bringing their children with them to the UK and to hike the earnings threshold for skilled workers to £38,700 after a furious Tory backlash over manifesto-busting immigration figures. The Conservatives promised to cut net migration to the "tens of thousands" in their 2010, 2015 and 2017 manifestos but ditched the pledge in 2019. Instead, the party committed to making sure "overall numbers come down". Net migration stood at 226,000 at the time.
But the MAC said the package of measures was "by no means certain" to work and urged ministers not to make specific targets as the results of policy changes are "unpredictable". The advisers said the only way to end reliance on care staff from overseas and resolve the staffing crisis was to introduce a decent minimum rate of pay. It suggested last year that wages should be hiked initially to £1 per hour above the National Living Wage - which is currently £10.42 an hour - but the Government has not responded to the demand.
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In its annual report, it said: "We continue to maintain that the only long-term sustainable solution to the workforce problems in the sector is to pay all care workers in the UK properly which would require a significant increase in public funds, and we remain deeply disappointed that the UK government continue to exhibit no ambition in this area."
Lower take up for care worker visas in Scotland and Northern Ireland compared to England may be due to "the relative competitiveness of the care worker wage when compared to competing occupations, making the occupation more attractive to domestic workers," it said.
MAC Chair Professor Brian Bell said: “There are thousands of people across the country who are receiving care today that would not have been possible without the care visa route, but we remain deeply concerned by the increasing reports of exploitation. The only long-term, sustainable solution is for the government to provide sufficient funds to enable local authorities and providers to pay care workers significantly above the minimum wage."
Unison General Secretary Christina McAnea said: “The care sector is a lifeline for so many people. Yet there’s still no plan to fix social care, more than four years after a Conservative prime minister said he had one.
“The Government seems intent on worsening the crisis by playing politics with migrant workers’ lives, rather than tackling record vacancies in the sector. Care work is highly skilled. The sector needs a long-term funding plan that significantly boosts wages and offers a career path with training."
The Mirror is campaigning for Fair Care for All.
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