Oral Answers to Questions
Lisa Smart Excerpts(1 week, 2 days ago)
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Bridget Phillipson
The hon. Lady is right to identify that challenge, and I have used that statistic many times myself. I am really concerned about the big numbers of experienced women, particularly those in their 30s, who leave teaching because they find it too difficult to combine work with family life. That is why, as part of what we have set out to the School Teachers Review Body process, we have asked it to look specifically at some of those challenges. As part of our wider work across Government to make work pay, we are ensuring better rights at work and that maternity protections are rolled out for workers across our country.
Lisa Smart (Hazel Grove) (LD)
I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, which shows that I am in the 19th year of being a proud primary school governor. The Secretary of State will know that schools are led by teachers but also that many volunteers go towards making our schools the brilliant places of learning that they are. Too many of the schools in my constituency have vacancies for governors. Will the Secretary of State tell us what she is doing to increase the recruitment and retention of school governors?
Bridget Phillipson
I congratulate the hon. Lady on the important work that she does as a school governor. They are the unsung heroes across our communities in terms of the support they provide to our schools. I recognise the increasing challenge that she sets out around how we can ensure that people come forward to take on those important roles. That is why we have been working with the bodies representing governors to ensure that we attract more people into those important roles to drive forward standards in our schools.
Indefinite Leave to Remain: Healthcare Workers
Lisa Smart Excerpts(1 month ago)
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Lisa Smart (Hazel Grove) (LD)
I am grateful to the Petitions Committee and to the hon. Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Tony Vaughan) for this debate, and it is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Sir Edward. It is an honour to speak on a matter that is deeply important, not just to those who signed the petition, but to every single one of us who relies on the dedication and compassion of healthcare workers.
We should be clear about the immense contribution that healthcare workers make to the UK. Those individuals form the backbone of our communities, tirelessly offering their time, skills and empathy to ensure the wellbeing of those in need. Every single day, they save lives and, in doing so, can risk their own. They also face mounting pressure, whether from record waiting times in the NHS or from staffing shortages in care homes. Other Members have mentioned hate crimes in their constituencies, and over the weekend I had an horrific incident of exactly that in my constituency. I completely agree with the comments made in that regard.
What do healthcare workers get in return? They get a system that makes them jump through hoops and that can leave them vulnerable to exploitation, as we heard clearly in Thomas’s story—about how the power sits with the sponsoring employer, rather than with the healthcare worker. Those workers deserve better. They deserve a system that recognises their sacrifices, their contributions and their humanity.
The Liberal Democrats have long championed better support for healthcare workers from around the world, because if we want to continue benefiting from their dedication, we must treat them with respect—not as mere cogs in a machine, but as valued members of our society. To us, the first step to ensuring that healthcare workers have the resources, support and respect they deserve to continue their essential work, is reversing the utterly cruel decision made by the last Government to ban those on the health and care worker visa from bringing their dependants with them. That policy places undue burden on workers who are already sacrificing so much to support our healthcare system, and it sends a clear message that our Government do not value them. By overturning that decision, we could take a vital step towards returning compassion.
I urge the Government to exempt NHS staff, and care staff too, from the £1,000 a year immigration skills charge. That fee, imposed on employers who recruit workers overseas, places an unnecessary financial strain on our already stretched healthcare system. At a time when the NHS and care sectors face significant workforce shortages and mounting demand, charges such as those are unproductive.
We must also address the exploitation of migrant workers, a problem particularly acute in the social care sector. Many of those workers face long hours, low pay and isolation from their families, a situation only worsened by the decision to ban dependants. The Liberal Democrats are committed to tackling that head on. We are calling for a single enforcement body to crack down on modern slavery and worker exploitation. That was promised by the previous Government, but unfortunately did not materialise.
Reforming policies for immigrants working in healthcare is essential, but the long-term solution surely lies in a robust workforce plan that invests in training and retaining our own talent. That was mentioned by the hon. Member for Bournemouth East (Tom Hayes). Had the previous Government paid care workers properly and valued them as skilled professionals, they would not have needed to bring in tens of thousands of care workers from abroad.
The Liberal Democrats urge the Government to produce a long-term workforce strategy to focus on addressing those skill gaps that exist within the UK through increased training and education opportunities, and for relevant Departments to work with employers in each sector to address their specific needs. We have also called for a carers’ minimum wage to make it easier to recruit British workers to those vital services on which our country relies. The previous Government did not implement those proposals, but I urge this Government to revisit them.
There is a central point to be made here: the UK’s visa system is broken. It is not fair or fit for purpose. Our economy and, with it, our public services and—most importantly—our people, suffer for it. The Liberal Democrats are committed to building a system that is fair, practical and humane—one that recognises economic realities, values families and enables our workforce to meet the needs of this country. We need a flexible, merit-based visa system that reflects the actual needs of our economy—one that considers skills, qualifications and demand for expertise, not an arbitrary figure that is forced to fit across all industries and sectors. A key part of that flexibility should be moving work visa policy out of the Home Office, which has repeatedly shown that it does not understand the needs of employers. That policy should be placed under the responsibility of Departments better equipped to address workforce challenges. By doing so, we can ensure that policies are designed with a deeper understanding of sector-specific challenges and a focus on supporting economic growth and service delivery.
The UK’s immigration system is not working for too many people. It fails healthcare workers, it is failing employers and it fails all of us who rely on vital services. The Liberal Democrats have a plan to fix it by treating healthcare workers with the respect they deserve, cracking down on worker exploitation and building a visa system built on merit and real workforce need. We urge the Government to start delivering a system that actually works for healthcare workers, for the NHS and for the entire country.
Family and Work Visas
Lisa Smart Excerpts(1 month ago)
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Westminster Hall is an alternative Chamber for MPs to hold debates, named after the adjoining Westminster Hall.
Each debate is chaired by an MP from the Panel of Chairs, rather than the Speaker or Deputy Speaker. A Government Minister will give the final speech, and no votes may be called on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Lisa Smart (Hazel Grove) (LD)
It is a pleasure to participate with you in the Chair, Mr Pritchard. I offer many congratulations to the hon. Member for Belfast South and Mid Down (Claire Hanna) on securing this important debate.
If I am to make only one point today, it is that our visa system is broken. It is not fair, it is not fit for purpose and it is costing us—our economy, our communities and, most importantly, our people. The Liberal Democrats want to see a system that is fair, practical and humane, and one that values families, recognises economic realities and ensures that our workforce can meet the needs of the country. The previous Conservative Government imposed an arbitrary salary threshold—it has been mentioned by others—of £38,700 for skilled work visas. So far, the incoming Labour Government have followed their lead. The threshold does not work. It is just a number, and it is detached from the realities of the UK’s labour market.
Across industries like hospitality and social care, which are absolutely vital to our society and economy, salaries are often below that threshold. By setting an inflexible limit, we are denying skilled workers the opportunity to contribute to our communities and leaving critical roles unfilled. The threshold does not just hurt workers; it hurts us all. When we drive qualified people away, we end up short-staffed in our NHS, schools and care homes. Every unfilled position means a longer wait in A&E, a larger school class or a care home resident left without the help they need.
That is why we Liberal Democrats are calling for a flexible, merit-based system for work visas. Such a system would allow us to work closely with each sector, responding to its unique needs and ensuring that skilled individuals who meet those needs can come to the UK. We should be assessing visa applicants based on their skills, qualifications and the demand for their expertise, not on an arbitrary figure forced to fit across all industries.
This is just a piece of a larger puzzle, and it must go hand in hand with a long-term workforce strategy. If we want to tackle labour shortages and skills gaps in a sustainable way, we must invest in developing our own talent for high-demand sectors. The previous Government failed to prioritise that, and I urge the current Labour Government to turn this plan into a reality. We have also urged the Government to move control over work visas and policies for international students out of the Home Office, which has repeatedly shown its lack of understanding of the needs of employers and universities. These issues should be put where they belong—in the Departments that understand their value.
Moving on to family visas, the Conservatives’ decision to increase the minimum income threshold has left many families in a state of deep uncertainty, wondering whether they will be split apart simply because a loved one’s income does not meet an arbitrary requirement. This is not just a policy failure; it is a failure of compassion. The Liberal Democrats believe that no family should be torn apart by these cruel thresholds. Family life should not be a privilege for the well-off; it is a basic human right. We have therefore called for an immediate reversal of these unfair increases to the income threshold. Families deserve clarity and stability, and we urge the Government to act swiftly to address the issue.
In short, the Liberal Democrats are clear that we can and should have a fair, compassionate visa system that works for UK people and people wanting to come here to contribute—not against them. The time has come to move beyond arbitrary numbers and red tape. We should build a system that is rational, humane and responsive to the needs of our society. A merit-based approach to work visas, aligned with a practical workforce strategy, will help us attract and retain the talent we need. A fair policy on family visas will keep families together, relieving them of unnecessary anxiety and hardship. I urge the Minister and the Government to abandon many of the policies of the past and support a vision of the UK that values family, fairness and economic common sense.