(Alliance News) - Care providers must prove they have tried to recruit a worker already in England before attempting to hire someone from overseas, under rules coming into effect next month.
The change will help tackle the reliance on overseas recruitment to staff the social care workforce as well as exploitation in the sector, the Home Office said.
The rule, coming in from April 9, will require an employer to prioritise recruiting international care workers already in the country who are in need of new sponsorship.
The department said it is part of work to ensure high standards across the immigration system and support care workers into alternative jobs if their sponsor has had their licence removed.
The latest figures, published last month, showed the number of visas issued for health and care workers and their families coming to the UK fell from 348,157 in 2023 to 110,833 last year – a decrease of 68%.
The drop is likely to reflect changes in legal migration rules introduced since January 2024 by the previous Conservative government, including a ban on overseas care workers bringing family dependants, and a steep rise in the salary threshold for skilled workers to GBP38,700.
The Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford said that while the rule change might help to address exploitation "to some extent", enforcement could be difficult.
Its director, Dr Madeleine Sumption, said: "One problem workers have faced is that if they lost their job because an exploitative employer did not provide the work they'd promised or was struck off, they often struggled to find a new one.
"This is despite the fact that employers were still recruiting thousands of new care workers to come from overseas.
"The move to require employers to recruit in-country before hiring from overseas might help to address this problem to some extent.
"That said, these policies can be difficult to enforce so the proof will be in the implementation."
She added that even with more opportunity to find a new job in the sector, care staff on work visas "will likely continue to be vulnerable to exploitation for other reasons, such as debt and difficulties finding a new job if they continue to be employed in poor conditions but have not officially lost their job".
The Home Office said more than 470 sponsor licences in the care sector had been revoked between July 2022 and December 2024 in a crackdown on abuse and exploitation.
More than 39,000 workers were associated with those sponsors since October 2020.
Migration & citizenship minister Seema Malhotra 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."
Care minister Stephen Kinnock said: "As we crack down on shameful rogue operators exploiting overseas workers here in the UK, we must do all we can to get the victims back into rewarding careers in adult social care.
"Prioritising care workers who are already in the UK will get people back to work, reducing our reliance on international recruitment, and make sure our social care sector has the care professionals it needs."
The government said minimum salary thresholds were being updated to reflect the latest data from the Office for National Statistics, ensuring those working on the skilled worker visa, including care workers, are paid a minimum of GBP12.82 per hour.
By Aine Fox, PA Social Affairs Correspondent
Press Association: News
source: PA
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