Are Senior Carer
Work Permits history?

By Charles Kelly

01 June 2007

Since January 2007 the Borders and Immigration Agency (formerly Work Permits UK), has drastically reduced the number of Work Permits issued for Senior Carers, according to employers and agents.

An HR Manager for one of the UK's largest care providers told me that for the last three months the Home Office has "frozen us out".

"We have not been getting any Senior Carer Work Permits since January and they are even blocking requests to move someone from one home to another" she continued.

Recruitment Agencies specialising in supplying overseas staff are experiencing similar difficulties. Cynthia Barker, Recruitment Manager at Bison Management UK, said:

"All the leading agencies are having problems with the Home Office and have seen very few Senior Carer Work Permits this year. Whilst we have still managed to obtain Work Permits, the numbers are substantially down on last year".

Thousands could be forced to leave

Cynthia is very worried about the fate of existing Work Permit holders applying for extensions, as the Home Office are also refusing many of these applications.

"We have a large number of Senior Carers due for renewal this year and we are desperately trying to help them all. If this trend continues, however, many thousands of overseas workers, and their families, may be forced to leave the UK.

"Overseas workers worried about their situation should seek advice, as there are almost always alternative solutions" she added.

My Immigration Adviser team has had several off the record conversations with Caseworkers at the Borders and Immigration Agency and some have said that they are "awaiting new guidelines" while others admitted that they are "refusing all Senior Carer applications".

I put it to the Home Office Press Office that it would appear they refusing almost all Senior Carer Work Permits. The spokesperson said that it was unlikely that one particular sector would be targeted and declined to comment further.

However, we already know from comments following compliance visits on Care Homes that there is a view within the Home Office that the Senior Carer Work Permit route has been abused - i.e. Senior Carers being employed as Care Assistants.

Official statistics are not available for the number of Work Permits issued in the last quarter, but I would expect to see a dramatic reduction when figures are eventually released.

The public will not tolerate elderly Patients being put at risk by staff shortages

This raises the difficult question as to how the Care Industry will cope without their overseas staff. There is hardly a Care Home in the country which doesn't employ Filipino, Indian, or African staff.

You cannot just remove thousands of workers from Care Homes without serious repercussions. As Dame Denise Platt, Chair of CSCI, warned on the staff shortage issue: "Patients will be put at risk".

With the industry's staffing needs clearly not being met by the resident labour force or from newly arriving Eastern Europeans, the Home Office needs to come up with a radical solution to this on-going problem.

One solution could be a special 'overseas care worker scheme' along the lines of the 'Sector Based Scheme' which allowed temporary admission for low skilled workers. Another is to encourage more students to come to the UK to fill the gaps.

Because of the on-going problems with Work Permits over the last year, and the obvious need for ordinary Carers, Bison UK has been helping Students to come to the UK to study and work in Care Homes under their unique "Earn While You Learn" scheme.

NVQ Student with Charles Kelly
PLAY STUDENT TESTIMONIAL VIDEO

Earn While You Learn Scheme

Students come to the UK on a student visa, arranged by Bison, to study NVQ courses in Health and Social Care. Bison UK arranges the college admission and a paid work placement in a Care Home. The programme is proving extremely popular with both candidates and employers.

Bison UK runs free presentations where potential students or their relatives can learn more about the programme and put questions to an immigration expert.

For more details click follow this link: http://www.visas4students.com/

If you are worried about you situation or have any questions please email info@immigrationmatters.co.uk.

www.immigrationmatters.co.uk

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