Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration’s report entitled An inspection of the immigration system as it relates to the social care sector, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Skilled Worker route for social care workers; and whether she has plans to (a) review and (b) reform the Skilled Worker visa.

The previous government accepted the recommendations of the ICIBI report and we will continue to take this work forward. The Home Office has undertaken activity since 2023 to address issues in the sector including commissioning the Migration Advisory Committee to undertake a review of the Immigration Salary List and requiring those sponsoring care workers in England to be registered with the Care Quality Commission.

The Government is committed to reducing historically high levels of legal migration and addressing the root causes. We recognise the need to cut reliance on international recruitment in sectors like social care.

We will introduce measures to upskill workers and improve working conditions in the UK, ensuring quicker responses to labour market challenges and reducing the need for international recruitment.

We will continue to work across government, and with the adult social care sector to develop an understanding of the sector to inform our policies and decision making in relation to cases from it.

There are regular engagement sessions between the Home Office and the sector whereby clear examples of good practice are shared alongside the trial of a support process where providers are able to seek a letter of support from the local Director of Adult Social Services confirming any requests are proportionate to the business model.