Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of adding entry level social care staff to the shortage occupation list.

Senior care workers were added to the Shortage Occupation List (SOL) in April 2021, joining other key health and care occupations such as nurses, occupational therapists and social workers. Yet we do not believe it would be appropriate to create an immigration route which gives social care employers an opportunity to recruit at or near the minimum wage, with no work based training requirements, as an alternative to offering the type of rewarding packages which will attract UK based workers.

In July, I commissioned the MAC to review the impact of ending free movement on the social care sector. The MAC have issued a call for evidence with stakeholders and we look forward to receiving their report in April 2022.