Source · Select Committees · Health and Social Care Committee
Recommendation 69
69
Accepted in Part
Paragraph: 226
Decrease Health and Care Worker visa salary requirements and add care workers to shortage list.
Recommendation
The Government should report on how many care workers have been issued with Health and Care Worker visas since the scheme was launched. The salary requirement for the visa should be decreased to the average salary for a social care worker. Care workers should be considered skilled and added to the shortage occupation list.
Government Response Summary
The government reported that 56,900 care worker visas were granted in 2022, noting that care workers were added to the Health and Care Visa and Shortage Occupation List in February 2022. However, they rejected the recommendation to reduce the minimum salary requirement, citing it as a cornerstone of the Points Based System.
Paragraph Reference:
226
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
On 15 February 2022 we added care workers to the Health and Care Visa and the Shortage Occupation List (SOL), enabling these roles to be recruited from overseas. On 23rd February 2023 the Home Office published a breakdown of visas issued in the last year as part of their regular quarterly migration statistics. There was a total of 56,900 visa grants for care workers and senior care workers in 2022. This is comprised of 34,800 grants to care workers and home carers and 22,100 to senior care workers. These figures demonstrate the scale of the uptake of international recruitment into the adult social care sector since care workers were added to the Shortage Occupation List. We do not agree with the recommendation to reduce the minimum salary requirement for care workers. Salary thresholds are a fundamental cornerstone of the Points Based System. The minimum salary requirement helps to drive positive employer behaviour and practice and protects the welfare of people, recruited internationally, who come and work in the social care sector—a view shared by the independent Migration Advisory Committee.