Latest news with #CareEngland
CNBC
7 days ago
- Business
- CNBC
CCTV Script 13/05/25
On Monday local time, the UK government released a new immigration white paper, marking a comprehensive reform of its immigration system. The new policies tighten several visa application requirements, with significant impacts on skilled worker visas, social care visas, and student visas. Let's take a closer look: First, for skilled worker visas, the minimum educational requirement has been raised to a university degree. In addition, applicants wishing to bring family members to the UK must meet a higher salary threshold, and accompanying family members must demonstrate basic English proficiency. The white paper also proposes ending the visa route for overseas recruitment in the social care sector. At the same time, policies for international student visas have also been tightened. While international students will still be allowed to stay in the UK to seek employment after graduation, the Graduate visa duration will be shortened from the current two years to 18 months. The government is also considering imposing a 6% levy on universities' income from international tuition fees. Finally, the white paper stipulates that the minimum residency requirement for applying for permanent settlement in the UK will increase from five years to ten years. In recent years, net migration to the UK has remained high. With the surge in immigrant numbers, public service resources have become strained, triggering discontent among many British citizens. Shortly after Keir Starmer took office last year, large-scale anti-immigration protests erupted across the country. This helps explain why the Starmer government is now emphasizing the need to regain control over the UK's borders. Keir Starmer "As this white paper sets out, every area of the immigration system, work, family and study will be tightened up so we have more control. CUT TO enforcement tougher than ever, because fair rules must be followed." According to UK government estimates, the reforms could reduce annual immigration numbers by nearly 100,000, with skilled worker entries potentially dropping by as much as 50%. The latest immigration reforms have sparked strong opposition from the UK's business, care, and education sectors. According to the , the CEO of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) pointed out that domestic training alone cannot solve the labor shortage. The current immigration policies make it hard for UK businesses to access key skilled workers, which affects investment, limits growth, and may even jeopardize existing jobs. The CEO of Care England, a social care industry organization, criticized the government for failing to increase investment in the sector or address the staffing crisis — and instead cutting off one of the few existing talent pipelines. Lastly, the CEO of Universities UK warned that the reforms could further strain higher education institutions. Not only might they hit university finances, but they could also reduce the UK's attractiveness to international students.
Euronews
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
UK PM Starmer accused of echoing far-right amid immigration overhaul
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been criticised for allegedly echoing the language of the far right in a speech announcing the overhaul of the country's immigration policy. Speaking on Monday, less than two weeks after the anti-immigration Reform UK party swept to victory in local elections, Starmer vowed to end 'Britain's failed experiment in open borders' and to tighten the system so that it was 'controlled, selective and fair'. The UK leader also promised that the number of immigrants entering the country would fall 'significantly', but he did not give specific numbers. Starmer's most controversial comment was his warning that without comprehensive change, the UK could become an 'island of strangers'. 'In a diverse nation like ours … we risk becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together,' Starmer said, while setting out policies including a plan to raise the level of English required to apply for a visa. Critics, including members of his own party, said the rhetoric was reminiscent of a line in Enoch Powell's infamous 'Rivers of Blood' speech in 1968, when the politician warned that white Britons could find themselves 'strangers in their own country'. Zarah Sultana, a politician who was recently suspended from the Labour party for voting against the government, was among those who condemned Starmer. 'The prime minister imitating Enoch Powell's 'Rivers of Blood' speech is sickening,' Sultana said. 'That speech fuelled decades of racism and division. Echoing it today is a disgrace. It adds to anti-migrant rhetoric that puts lives at risk,' she added. Meanwhile, Labour MP Nadia Whittome also accused the prime minister of adopting the language of the far right. 'The step-up in anti-migrant rhetoric from the government is shameful and dangerous,' she wrote on X. 'Migrants are our neighbours, friends and family. To suggest that Britain risks becoming 'an island of strangers' because of immigration mimics the scaremongering of the far-right.' But many in the party backed the UK prime minister's words. Politician Jake Richards said: 'Millions of people across the country have similar concerns. This theme must be central to missions across immigration, employment, work and tackling neighbourhood deprivation.' The UK government's new white paper on immigration included a decision to end the social care visa, which supplies the struggling care sector with international staff. Overseas recruitment was a 'lifeline' for the sector, according to Martin Green, chief executive of industry body Care England. 'Taking it away now, with no warning, no funding and no alternative, is not just short-sighted – it's cruel,' he said. Previous British leaders have promised drastic curbs to annual immigration, with Tory PM David Cameron promising to drive it below 100,000. Under successive Conservative governments, this did not happen. In the year to June 2023, net migration rose to 900,000, a spike caused in part by the arrival of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war in Ukraine and a democratic crackdown in Hong Kong. In the year to June 2024, net immigration to the UK was 728,000. The UK's desire to reset post-Brexit relations with the European Union could depend on reaching an agreement over the future of Gibraltar, according to Spain's foreign minister. London and Madrid have been in talks for years in a bid to strike a deal to ensure people and goods can keep flowing over the British overseas territory's land border with Spain. The UK left the EU in 2020 with the relationship between Gibraltar and the bloc unresolved, although it was agreed that the outpost would stay part of agreements such as the border-free Schengen Area while a permanent solution was negotiated. Next week, the UK is hosting a summit with EU leaders at which Prime Minister Keir Starmer is aiming to seal a new security pact with the bloc and improve ties post-Brexit. However, speaking to the BBC on Monday, Spain's Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said that a clear deal about Gibraltar's future could be crucial to resetting UK-EU relations. "The relationship between UK and European Union is a comprehensive relationship, a global relationship, not just a pick-and-choose relationship," he said. "There are many, many things that we have to talk (about), Gibraltar included." "There is no agreement. It's not resolved yet. We need to solve the issue of Gibraltar in order to have a full European Union-UK relationship," Albares told the BBC. One sticking point is the question of who controls Gibraltar's airport, which under the proposed free-movement deal would be an external border of the EU. London and Gibraltar have resisted Madrid's insistence that Spanish border officials be based at the airport, which is also home to a Royal Air Force base. Gibraltar was ceded to the UK in 1713, but Spain has maintained its sovereignty claim ever since. In the 2016 Brexit referendum, 96% of voters in Gibraltar supported remaining in the EU. The British territory depends greatly on access to the EU market for its approximately 34,000 inhabitants.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Labour axing care worker visa will put services at risk, say unions and care leaders
Unions and care providers have accused the government of putting services at risk after it confirmed plans to shut down the overseas care worker visa route. The long-awaited immigration white paper, to be published on Monday, includes measures to ban new recruitment from abroad for care roles, as part of a wider effort to reduce legal migration and prioritise UK-based workers. The decision has triggered an angry backlash from industry leaders and trade unions, who say the sector is already stretched to breaking point and still relies heavily on international staff to keep services running. Prof Martin Green, the chief executive of Care England, said the government was 'kicking us while we're already down'. 'For years, the sector has been propping itself up with dwindling resources, rising costs, and mounting vacancies,' he said. 'International recruitment wasn't a silver bullet, but it was a lifeline. Taking it away now, with no warning, no funding, and no alternative, is not just shortsighted – it's cruel.' Related: MPs warn social care needs substantial investment to fix 'broken' system Unison, the UK's biggest union representing health and care workers, also criticised the decision and called for urgent clarity on what the changes meant for those already working in the UK. Christina McAnea, Unison's general secretary, said: 'The NHS and the care sector would have collapsed long ago without the thousands of workers who've come to the UK from overseas. 'Migrant health and care staff already here will now be understandably anxious about what's to happen to them. The government must reassure these overseas workers they'll be allowed to stay and continue with their indispensable work.' She urged ministers to stop describing care jobs as 'low skilled' and said the government must 'get on with making its fair pay agreement a reality'. In 2023, more than 58,000 overseas care workers came to the UK on skilled worker visas – nearly half of all new entrants to the social care workforce. Labour has defended the policy as part of a wider reset of the immigration system, aimed at reducing reliance on overseas labour and investing in the domestic workforce. The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, defended the policy during an interview on BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. She argued employers should recruit from the existing pool of care workers already in the UK, including those who arrived on visas but were never placed in roles. 'They can also extend existing visas. They could recruit as well from people who are on other visas who are already here,' she said. 'But we do think it's time to end that care worker recruitment.'
Glasgow Times
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Glasgow Times
Starmer immigration plans as he vows to 'take back control'
Migrants will be told they need to spend up to a decade in the UK before they can apply for citizenship and English language requirements will be increased as part of the Government's immigration crackdown. The Prime Minister said: ''Take back control.' Everyone knows that slogan, and everyone knows what it meant on immigration, or at least that's what people thought. 'Because what followed from the previous government, starting with the people who used that slogan, was the complete opposite. 'Between 2019 and 2023, even as they were going round our country, telling people with a straight face that they would get immigration down, net migration quadrupled, until in 2023 it reached nearly one million. 'That's about the population of Birmingham, our second largest city. That's not control. It's chaos.' Sir Keir said tougher restrictions were needed, warning that Britain risked becoming 'an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together'. He said: 'So when you have an immigration system that seems almost designed to permit abuse, that encourages some businesses to bring in lower paid workers rather than invest in our young people, or simply one that is sold by politicians to the British people on an entirely false premise, then you are not championing growth. 'You are not championing justice or however else people defend the status quo. You're actually contributing to the forces that are slowly pulling our country apart.' Under the White Paper proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship, but so-called 'high-contributing' individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system. Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English. Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning that they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language. Meanwhile, skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages. Ministers are looking to bring down net migration figures, which stood at 728,000 in the year to mid-2024. The Prime Minister did not answer a question on whether net migration would fall every year between now and the next election but said he wants to 'get it down by the end of this Parliament'. Care England's chief executive Martin Green earlier labelled the Government's plans as 'cruel'. The announcement comes less than a fortnight after Reform UK surged to victory in local council elections across England, a result that deputy leader Richard Tice attributed to frustrations about the immigration system. The Conservatives have said that the Prime Minister is 'trying to take credit for recent substantial reductions in visa numbers that resulted from Conservative reforms in April 2024'.
BBC News
12-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Struggling care providers say overseas worker crackdown 'short-sighted'
Care providers already struggling to find staff are raising alarm about the government's new plan to end overseas care worker recruitment, part of sweeping reforms to the immigration system."A lifeline" is how many care companies supporting older and disabled people in their own homes and in care homes view the overseas staff who they have recruited in the last few with staff being brought in from other countries, official estimates showed there were 131,000 vacancies in social care in England last year. Care provider groups warn that some services will struggle to survive without international recruits and threaten their ability to support vulnerable clients."The sector has been propping itself up with dwindling resources, rising costs, and mounting vacancies," says Prof Martin Green of Care England, which describes itself as the largest representative body for independent care providers."Taking (international recruitment) away now with no warning, no funding, and no alternative, is not just short-sighted - it's cruel," he Starmer, the prime minister, said on Monday that visa changes were part of a drive "to reduce immigration significantly" and that the government wants to create "a migration system that is controlled, selective and fair".The government has said care providers can extend visas for existing staff and recruit migrants who have arrived in the UK but have yet to find a job. It also promises a new fair pay agreement for care staff and wants companies to recruit and train more people from Dr Jane Townson of the Homecare Association says the government is introducing the changes "in a vacuum" as a fair pay agreement is a long way off and there is "no plan to deliver the care workers our country needs."So how did we get here?Social care has been in crisis for years, with council funding of services squeezed, significant staff-shortages and growing demand from an ageing population. Plans for reform have been delayed time and care workers were clapped along with health workers during the pandemic, that did not translate into an improvement in pay or 1.7 million people work in social care in England, according to Skills for Care, the official body that monitors the workforce. It is often a minimum or just above minimum wage job, with little recognition of the increasing responsibility and complexity of the support staff provide to older and disabled people. Putting it bluntly, if someone can earn more working, for instance, in a supermarket for fewer, less strenuous hours, then that is the option many will some staff left care work because they felt burnt out and others who still loved the job, felt they could not afford the increases in the cost of April 2021 and March 2022, social care vacancies reached a record high of 165,000, a massive 52% increase on the year December 2021, the warnings of imminent collapse coming from care providers reached such a pitch, Boris Johnson's Conservative government made care work a shortage occupation so making it easier for companies to look overseas for staff. Those recruits had to earn a minimum of £20,480 a year to qualify for the visa, and they could bring family with was a rapid rise in overseas recruitment – in 2022/23 80,000 people arrived in the UK to work in care and in 23/24, there were another 105,000 care companies said bringing in those staff was the difference between providing services or collapsing. However, there was also abuse of this new route into the UK. For instance, some people were exploited, ending up paying middlemen thousands of pounds for travel and sponsorship Home Office says 470 care companies have had their licence to recruit international staff revoked since 2022. It estimates that has led to about 40,000 staff being displaced. Companies say many will have already found alternative care work. In March 2024, Rishi Sunak's Conservative government tightened the visa requirements. This included saying recruits could no longer bring family with them. It has led to a significant fall in the number of people arriving to work in care from the year, up to December 2024, 9,500 visas were granted to people entering the UK to provide "caring personal services", according to the in the four years since staff shortages were most acute relatively little has changed to encourage more UK people to work in care. There has been an ongoing government funded recruitment campaign and plenty of talk about the need to improve the pay and status of staff, but many who work in care fear solutions remain a long way independent Casey Commission started work last month to draw up plans for adult social care. It has been described by ministers as a "once in a generation opportunity to transcend party politics and build consensus on the future of the sector". Its first update is due next year and its final report by a time when the NHS is struggling, social care is more important than ever as it can keep vulnerable people out of hospital and support patients when they return care workers will say it is an incredibly rewarding job and with overseas recruitment being closed, the question is what needs to change to encourage more UK people to take on the role?
