Homecare Association submission on work-based immigration
The Homecare Association argues that closing the care worker visa route in July 2025 without a funded replacement plan leaves a major gap. Sponsored workers fill around 150,000 care posts, while posts filled by British nationals have fallen by around 107,000 since 2021/22. Low pay and insecure hours, driven by how the state funds and buys care, are the main barriers to domestic recruitment.
Five themes run through the evidence:
- Careworkers are skilled, but policy does not recognise their skills. Immigration rules use salary and qualification level as proxies for skill, but the Migration Advisory Committee recognises that care is skilled work.
- UKVI processes and commissioning do not align. Sponsors must provide genuine employment with guaranteed hours and pay, while commissioners often guarantee neither sufficient income nor work volumes.
- Enforcement must protect workers and continuity of care. Exploitation requires firm action, but a fair process must distinguish serious abuse from errors that can be explained and corrected.
- Government should consider sector-wide sponsorship. More portable sponsorship could let workers leave poor employers, combine hours across compliant providers and stay in care if their sponsor loses its licence.
- The sector needs a coherent, funded workforce plan. The plan must fund fair pay, reform commissioning and have joint ownership across government, including the Home Office and HM Treasury.
Key asks include a National Contract for Care Services with a cost-based fee floor, alignment of Home Office rules and commissioning practice and keeping the five-year settlement route with parity for NHS staff.
