ARC England is deeply concerned about the Government’s plans to end international recruitment announced on the 12th May, in their Immigration White Paper.
International recruitment is an effective source of highly valued social care staff and has contributed to the sector’s drop in vacancy numbers from a record high of 164,000 in 2022 to 131,000 in 2024. Turnover rates are also now at their lowest level in a decade.
Recruitment and retention has been a huge struggle for our members over many years, due to the lack of a professionally recognised career pathway and pay differentials of as little as 8p per hour between new-to-care colleagues and those with many years’ experience, a fact only exacerbated by the pandemic.
The cessation of international recruitment will drive vacancy levels across our sector to unmanageable heights. This comes at a time when, as highlighted in the recent ARC England CEO Confidence Survey, many providers are already freezing recruitment due to mounting financial pressures. The revocation of international recruitment routes will inevitably lead to a further decline in workforce diversity and reduced access to vital services, pushing learning disability and autism service providers even closer to the cliff edge of financial unsustainability.
We acknowledge that international recruitment has not been without its issues, but ceasing it altogether is a further blow in what has been an effective and vital workforce to many organisations.
We call on the Government to think again in its approach to social care; to move away from this risky strategy and in the direction of a comprehensive workforce plan backed with Treasury investment.