Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to publish an impact assessment on proposals to restrict care worker visas.

The Government has published a technical annex alongside the Immigration White Paper, and it estimates an annual reduction of approximately 7,000 main applicants as a result of ending overseas recruitment for care workers and senior care workers. Further information about the technical annex and the Immigration White Paper is available, respectively, at the following two links:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6821b49bdb6463b14cd8189c/restoring-control-over-the-immigration-system-technical-annex.pdf

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6821f334ced319d02c906103/restoring-control-over-the-immigration-system-web-optimised.pdf

This is based on internal management information for entry visas granted covering the period March 2024 to February 2025. This estimate reflects that there was a drop in visa grants of more than 90% compared with the 12 months ending in March 2024, when more than 83,000 entry visas were granted to care workers and senior care workers. The analysis in the technical annex will be refined and included within the relevant impact assessments accompanying the immigration rule changes, as appropriate.