Care homes face crippling Home Office fees with 1 in 4 workers foreign

Care homes face crippling Home Office fees with 1 in 4 workers foreign



Posted by theipaper

10 comments

  1. Care workers from overseas who are applying to extend their visas to remain in the UK should be exempt from higher immigration fees, ministers have been told.

    A quarter of care workers in the UK are foreign nationals, data has shown, and they will be subject to higher visa fees [under the Government’s immigration reforms.](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/landlord-blackpool-reform-pub-starmer-immigration-plan-3692921?ico=in-line_link)

    Companies providing care face “crippling” costs to maintain their current workforce, critics warned.

    This week Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced she would be ending the recruitment of carers from overseas under plans to reduce the number of migrant workers in the UK.

    But those already sponsored to work in the UK will be able to extend their stay until 2028.

    The cost of employers seeking visas for overseas workers – known as the immigration skills charge – is set to rise by 32 per cent.

    It will see the higher band of visa sponsorship increase from £1,000 to £1,320 per year for each worker.

    As a result, a five-year extension for just one care worker would cost their employer £6,600.

  2. The care home industry is a fucking disgrace. It would collapse if it wasn’t for foreign workers who will work for fuck all.

  4. Pay people a living wage and you will fix this overnight.

  5. Oh no. Better start training and hiring Brits then.

    It’s true, there aren’t enough qualified Brits to hire. But the people being brought in frequently have cheap, inadequate or fake certification, or such a language barrier than many who need care can’t even communicate problems to them. This is a source of unacceptable neglect.

    The British government needs to reform care qualifications. Get Brits in to qualifications, pressure care homes, employers and councils to hire Brits for the roles and that way guarentee a job placement for people studying. We have this with the NHS, lots of nurses in training but no job vacancies.

  6. That’s all? 1 in 4? The way the news goes on I thought it was like 8/10 care workers would be foreign workers. I mean. I know a quarter of the workforce is a lot I just assumed the numbers tilted in the other direction…

    I feel like I’m being gaslit…

  7. The issue isn’t really with the care workers themselves but the sometimes several dependents they bring with them and who also get access to full benefits and housing after they apply for ILR after 5 years. Many of them are either economically inactive or can’t speak English.

    That said this process will have a major impact on both the care industry and local council budgets. Many of the care companies operate through local authority contracts and include salaries in the calculations. Push up the cost and it will end up on council tax.

  8. lol, they already struggle with staff and those staff get paid virtually nothing like it’s not even worth doing that job.

    This is insane.

  9. >Care homes face crippling Home Office fees

    Oh no, anyway.

    The amount they charge in comparison to the amount they pay their workers I think they can afford it.

  10. Shorten shifts and increase pay, and you won’t have any trouble finding British staff

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