Disabled people who rely on carers are likely to be “disproportionately affected” by the Government’s planned changes to the immigration system, campaigners have warned.
New Home Secretary James Cleverley announced the government’s latest “crackdown” on Monday, including plans to reduce immigration numbers through a new five-point plan.
This includes new rules banning overseas care workers from bringing family dependants* to the UK, and rules ensuring that only care companies in England that are regulated by the Care Quality Commission can sponsor visas.
He said in the year to September 2023, 100,000 care workers and senior care staff were accompanied by about 120,000 dependents.
The government will also increase the annual migrant health surcharge from £624 to £1,035.
Mr Cleverley also announced that the minimum wage that skilled workers need to earn to get a visa would be increased by a third to £38,700 from next spring, but this will not apply to people arriving on health and social care visas.
Care workers are currently on the ‘shortage occupation list’ and are required to earn at least £20,960 a year.
Svetlana Kotova, campaigns and justice director at Inclusion London, said: “Disabled people will feel the effects of the changes to immigration rules more keenly.”
“We have already heard from many people that they are unable to receive support due to a lack of staff.
“The changes to immigration rules show how the contribution of people coming to work in health and social care is not valued.”
“I want people who support people with disabilities to be paid a decent wage and be able to bring their families to live with them.”
“Rather than imposing further restrictions on migrant workers, the Government should invest in social services and ensure care workers are paid a wage that reflects the enormous value of their work.”
Independent living pioneer John Evans said he feared the changes would make life harder for disabled people who hire personal assistants from other countries.
“The PA market is already shrinking due to Brexit, the pandemic and the rising cost of living,” he said.
He said: “In my own 40 years of experience employing secretaries, I have never found it more difficult to find new staff.
“This puts a lot of strain on us and increases stress due to the fear of continuing to live an independent life which may mean losing our freedom.
“Until there is clarity on this situation, we are in limbo.”
Donald O’Neill, an adult social care user for more than 35 years and author of the Care Deficit Act 2014, accused the Government of “campaigning at the expense of disabled people’s welfare”.
He said the Home Secretary was acting with “little consideration for the current situation – serious staff shortages in the social care sector”.
He said: “There is a huge shortage of care workers at the moment and the UK Government needs to make it easier and more attractive, not harder, for foreign workers to come and work in the social care sector.”
“The Care Act 2014 is focused on preventing people’s needs from worsening.
“If the new immigration rule changes result in a significant reduction in foreign workers coming to the UK to work in the social care sector, it will be counterproductive.
“Many people will not be able to get the care they need and their health needs will worsen.”
“This may result in more nursing interventions and some people being hospitalized.
“There are around 150,000 jobs available in the social care sector and now is not the time to impose restrictions on foreign workers wanting to come to the UK and work in this sector.”
Christina McAnea, general secretary of civil servant trade union Unison, said the government’s announcement was “a final blow to our crumbling social care system” and “risks the complete collapse of the UK’s care system at the expense of migrant care workers just to appease radical Conservative MPs”.
She said “any plans to curb migrant care work would be a complete disaster” and that not allowing migrant care workers to bring their dependants to the UK “would be exactly that”.
She predicted a “sharp increase” in staff vacancies from the current level of 152,000.
“I am determined to crack down on those who try to jump the queue and abuse our immigration system,” Mr Cleverley told the Commons, saying his five-point plan would “produce the biggest reduction in net migration ever”.
“We are taking decisive action to reduce legal immigration,” he said.
Asked about the potential damage to the care industry, he said: “People with families may be hesitant because of the restrictions on them, but people with no family responsibilities will almost certainly be willing to volunteer, so we don’t expect the changes to result in a significant reduction in demand.”
But Labour’s shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, told him: “The rise in social care visas from 3,500 a year to more than 100,000 comes after the government failed to listen for years to warnings about recruiting and retaining staff in the social care sector.”
“They halved the social care workforce recruitment and support budget in the spring and are still not listening to Labour and refusing to adopt plans for a proper workforce strategy for social care, including professional standards and fair pay agreements.”
Meanwhile, law firm Leigh Day has published a new guide (PDF) to help disabled people know their rights to support during long-term hospital stays and respite care.
The guide, commissioned by Inclusion London, follows the case of Cameron Mitchell, a disabled man who challenged benefit cuts that threatened to prevent him from receiving the care he needed while in hospital.
Thanks to Leigh Day, his claim was resolved.
*The government defines a dependent as “a spouse, partner, child, grandchild, parent or someone who depends on you for care”.
Pictured: (left to right) Donald O’Neill, John Evans, and Svetlana Kotova. Photo of Svetlana Kotova by Jon Abrams.
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