Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department holds on the number of NHS and social care workers impacted by the Immigration White Paper in (a) Poole constituency and (b) the UK.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Spring 2025 Impact Assessment (published here: Impact assessments covering migration policy - GOV.UK) provides the Department’s estimates on the volumes of impacted care and senior care workers resulting from the Immigration White Paper proposals. Place-based impacts are estimated at a regional level in the impact assessment.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the answer of 22 January 2026 to question 105956, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the impact of the immigration white paper on NHS and social workers.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has regular discussions with my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for the Home Department on a range of subjects, including immigration policy.
The Government has published an Impact Assessment alongside the Spring 2025 Immigration Rules, which sets out the expected effects of the reforms on the Skilled Worker and Health and Care worker routes, including modelling of changes in overall visa volumes. The Impact Assessment is published on the GOV.UK website, at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/impact-assessments-covering-migration-policy
The forthcoming 10-Year Health Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients when they need it. As part of that plan, we will outline strategies for improving retention, productivity, training, and reducing attrition, thereby enhancing conditions for all staff while gradually reducing reliance on international recruitment, without diminishing the value of their contributions.
For adult social care, it is also the Government’s policy to reduce reliance on international recruitment and improve domestic recruitment and retention. We recognise the scale of reform needed to make the adult social care attractive as a career and are determined to ensure that those who work in care are respected as professionals. We are introducing a new Fair Pay Agreement for Adult Social Care, implementing the first universal career structure for adult social care, and providing £12 million this year for staff to complete training and qualifications.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the answer of 22 January 2026 to question 105956, if he will publish an assessment of the potential impact of the immigration white paper on social care workers and NHS workers.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has regular discussions with my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for the Home Department on a range of subjects, including immigration policy.
The Government has published an Impact Assessment alongside the Spring 2025 Immigration Rules, which sets out the expected effects of the reforms on the Skilled Worker and Health and Care worker routes, including modelling of changes in overall visa volumes. The Impact Assessment is published on the GOV.UK website, at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/impact-assessments-covering-migration-policy
The forthcoming 10-Year Health Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients when they need it. As part of that plan, we will outline strategies for improving retention, productivity, training, and reducing attrition, thereby enhancing conditions for all staff while gradually reducing reliance on international recruitment, without diminishing the value of their contributions.
For adult social care, it is also the Government’s policy to reduce reliance on international recruitment and improve domestic recruitment and retention. We recognise the scale of reform needed to make the adult social care attractive as a career and are determined to ensure that those who work in care are respected as professionals. We are introducing a new Fair Pay Agreement for Adult Social Care, implementing the first universal career structure for adult social care, and providing £12 million this year for staff to complete training and qualifications.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of employers not providing the work guaranteed under a visa sponsorship agreement on migrant care workers; what steps her Department is taking to ensure that such workers are not disadvantaged as a result of sponsor non-compliance; and how any changes to settlement requirements, including the qualifying period for Indefinite Leave to Remain, will take account of individuals who have been unable to work or accrue National Insurance contributions due to circumstances beyond their control.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This Government is acutely aware of the levels of sponsor non-compliance in the care sector and this includes failing to provide adequate paid work. In response, we have revoked the licenses of more than 1000 care providers who are now no longer able to sponsor migrant workers.
The Home Office continues to work closely with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) funded Regional Partnerships to support care workers, who have been impacted by exploitative employers. DHSC are funding 15 regional hubs in England, made up of Local Authorities and Directors of Adult Social Services, working together to support displaced workers into new roles within the care sector. These regional hubs have received £12.5 million this financial year to support them to prevent and respond to unethical practices in the sector.
The earned settlement model, proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, announced changes to the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain. It also set out mandatory requirements for settlement, including a minimum level of National Insurance contributions. A public consultation was launched on 20 November 2025 and is open until 12 February 2026. The final model will also be subject to economic and equality impact assessments, which we have committed to publish in due course.
Asked by: Josh Fenton-Glynn (Labour - Calder Valley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of people who (a) have indefinite leave to remain status and (b) are employed in the (i) NHS and (ii) social care sector.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The information requested is not centrally held.
The Home Office publishes quarterly statistics relating to decisions on applications for Indefinite Leave to Remain, and those made through the EU Settlement Scheme, in the Immigration system statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK publication, both of which provide an overview of those persons with indefinite leave to remain in the UK. However, we do not link indefinite leave to remain grants to current occupation.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 4 August 2025 to Question 62005 on Care Workers: Migrant Workers, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of collecting data on visa status and ongoing employment in adult social care or UK residence.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Home Office immigration statistics show the numbers of Health and Care Worker visas granted under this category for the ‘Caring Personal Services’ occupation group (613), which broadly covers occupations across social care, over time, and for the specific “care workers and home carers” occupation code (6135) from the fourth quarter of 2024. Not all visa grants will result in a worker travelling to the United Kingdom.
Skills for Care collects data on the adult social care workforce from employers on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care, with the voluntary Adult Social Care Workforce Dataset data collection. From July 2024, it added a question about the Health and Care Worker visa status of employees, supplementing existing data on nationality and, for non-UK nationals, the year of entry to the UK. However, the uncertainty of any estimate of the total number of current workers with this status would depend on how many employers have chosen to respond to that question and whether their responses could be considered representative of the workforce in its entirety. Any estimate could not be directly compared to data on visa grants from the Home Office.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 4 August 2025 to Question 62005 on Care Workers: Migrant Workers, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of collecting that information.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Home Office immigration statistics show the numbers of Health and Care Worker visas granted under this category for the ‘Caring Personal Services’ occupation group (613), which broadly covers occupations across social care, over time, and for the specific “care workers and home carers” occupation code (6135) from the fourth quarter of 2024. Not all visa grants will result in a worker travelling to the United Kingdom.
Skills for Care collects data on the adult social care workforce from employers on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care, with the voluntary Adult Social Care Workforce Dataset data collection. From July 2024, it added a question about the Health and Care Worker visa status of employees, supplementing existing data on nationality and, for non-UK nationals, the year of entry to the UK. However, the uncertainty of any estimate of the total number of current workers with this status would depend on how many employers have chosen to respond to that question and whether their responses could be considered representative of the workforce in its entirety. Any estimate could not be directly compared to data on visa grants from the Home Office.
Asked by: Baroness Fraser of Craigmaddie (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the devolved administrations about the impact of the discontinuation of care worker visas on care provision.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Adult social care is a devolved matter. Prior to publication of the Immigration White Paper, devolved administrations were invited to submit their proposals for inclusion and had the opportunity to discuss the paper. Post-publication engagement with the devolved administrations has continued at both ministerial and senior official level to discuss the impacts of reforms.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of immigration salary thresholds for staff currently employed in the social care sector.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Salary thresholds are an important way of ensuring those coming to work in the UK are able to support themselves. These workers do not have access to public funds so it is important a rate is set which will ensure people are earning sufficient income without having to rely on public funds. A number of health and care and education occupations are subject to lower rates of pay than other occupations.
The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has been asked to consider whether there should continue to be a different threshold for health and care worker visas. We look forward to receiving the MAC’s recommendations in due course.
Individuals who are sponsored in roles at band 3 before the rules change on 22 July will be eligible to extend their visa providing they meet all the requirements at the time including being paid the appropriate salary. Salary thresholds and going rates are routinely updated and sponsored workers will need to meet the salary requirements in place at the time they apply for their visa to be renewed.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to publish a social care workforce strategy, in the context of the White Paper entitled Restoring control over the immigration system, published on 12 May 2025.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are currently no plans to publish a social care workforce strategy in response to the Immigration White Paper. However, we are actively supporting the workforce through a range of ongoing initiatives.
It is the Government’s policy to reduce reliance on international recruitment in adult social care and to improve domestic recruitment and retention. Overseas recruitment for adult social care is ending. The new rules will come into effect on 22 July 2025.
There will be a transition period until 2028, to be kept under review, where in-country applications, including from other visa routes, will continue to be permitted for care workers and senior care workers, provided individuals are already working in the sector. This means, for example, that care providers will continue to be able to access students and individuals on the graduate route, who we know have provided a vital role in workforce capacity in recent years.
The Department is providing up to £12.5 million this financial year to 15 regional partnerships to help support international care workers affected by license revocation into alternative, ethical employment. It also includes regional partnerships providing support with CV writing, interview techniques, employability skills support, support to better understand workplace culture in the United Kingdom, and signposting.
The Government recognises the scale of reforms needed to make the adult social care sector attractive, to support sustainable workforce growth, and improve the retention of the domestic workforce. This is why we are introducing the first ever Fair Pay Agreement to the adult social care sector so that care professionals are recognised and rewarded for the important work that they do.
We are also expanding the Care Workforce Pathway, the new national career structure, to make the adult social care sector more attractive to work in. In addition, care workers will be supported to safely take on further duties to deliver delegated healthcare activities, with the right training and clinical governance in place.
In September 2024, we launched the Adult Social Care Learning and Development Support Scheme, which allows employers to claim for funding for training courses and qualifications on behalf of eligible staff. The scheme is backed by up to £12 million this financial year.
In addition, the Department has launched an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service. The commission forms a key part of the Government’s Plan for Change, recognising the importance of adult social care in its own right, as well as its role in supporting the National Health Service.
In conclusion, while the commission carries out its work, we are already laying the groundwork for more substantial, long-term changes that will create a more resilient and sustainable workforce.