UK’S MIGRATION CRACKDOWN RISKS CARE HOME STAFFING CRUNCH – Government plans to make it harder for migrant workers to settle permanently in Britain
Government plans to make it harder for migrant workers to settle permanently in Britain risk a staffing crunch in care homes for elderly people, where one employee in three is from overseas.
Proposed reforms would make care workers wait 15 years to qualify for permanent residency. Many are now debating whether to leave the country, including some who had believed they were close to securing “indefinite leave to remain” (ILR) under the current five-year rule.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government is taking steps to address voter concerns by reducing migration to Britain, where tough talk on immigration has helped Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK party top opinion polls for over a year.
Care sector employers and some economists say a 15-year wait for ILR would make Britain less attractive than countries like Australia or Canada, where foreign carers can secure residency after two or three years.
But the government says settling hundreds of thousands of workers who moved to Britain in recent years to fill vacancies in the health and care sector would cost too much and weigh on public finances
