Care Sector In "Precarious" State As Figures Show Overseas Worker Visas Plummeting

The adult social care sector faces a "precarious" future, an industry leader has said, as new Home Office figures showed a sharp fall in visas granted to overseas workers.

The Home Office granted 89,095 health and care visas in the year ending June 2024 — 26 per cent down on the previous year. The number granted in April-June 2024 period was 81 per cent lower than that period in 2023, according to figures published on Thursday.

A sharp fall in visas issued was expected after the previous Tory government imposed new restrictions on international recruitment in a bid to reduce overall net migration. In December James Cleverly, the then home secretary, announced care workers would no longer be able to bring dependents with them to the UK.

Cleverly, who is one of the six Conservative MPs in the running to be the next Tory leader, today said the data demonstrated his record of "delivery" while in the Home Office, in a bid to appeal to Conservative MPs and party members who want to see lower levels of immigration.

Net migration to the UK hit its highest figure ever in 2023 at 685,000. The figure was driven by a post-pandemic surge in health and care workers from overseas after the Conservative government led by Boris Johnson expanded the visa route, as well as a surge in international students coming to the UK.

Lucinda Allen, senior policy officer at the Health Foundation, told PoliticsHome while the trend shown in the figures was "expected", it could compound an already "precarious" situation facing the care sector, which is experiencing staff shortages.

"The impact of this recent decrease is still unclear, because we don't have the latest data on vacancies and it will take a while to kind of have an have a more immediate impact,