Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 19
19
Acknowledged
Liaise with DHSC to assess domestic workforce plans addressing social care skills shortages.
Recommendation
We highlighted that expanding the Skilled Worker visa route had helped the social care sector to reduce vacancy rates to around 131,000. We were concerned that the Home Office had now turned the tap off and asked what analysis it had undertaken on the impact of the Spring 2024 changes to tighten entry requirements. These changes, and the Home Office’s increased focus on compliance, saw the number of Health and Care Worker visa applications for main applicants reduce significantly in 2024, with just 8,000 applications in April to June 2024 compared to 41,500 in the same period in 2023. The Home Office said that it was important to have a long-term sectoral workforce strategy that gets the balance right between using the domestic labour market and migration where it is needed.47 It needs to liaise with DHSC to understand the extent to which domestic workforce plans, are addressing skills shortages.
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the committee's recommendation and commits to writing separately to the Committee regarding the impact of tightened entry requirements. It notes that DHSC already monitors trends in the care workforce and demographics, implicitly addressing the need to understand skills shortages.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: October 2025 3.2 The government will write separately to the Committee on this point as requested. 3.3 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: July 2028 3.4 DHSC monitors trends in the size of the care workforce using a range of intelligence, including monthly tracking based on data collection from independent providers. 3.5 DHSC also uses annual estimates of demographics within the Adult Social Care workforce to monitor trends in the number of posts within the sector which are filled by British nationals, supplemented by additional intelligence.