Brexit sparks warning over future of tens of thousands migrant care workers

Tens of thousands of care workers from the European Union are facing an uncertain future in England following the vote for Brexit, leading care organisations have said.

It means that care services for the elderly and disabled people could be at risk, according to the older people’s charity Independent Age and the International Longevity Centre-UK (ILC-UK).

The risk is compounded by the failure to recruit enough British-born workers in the sector, they say.

The organisations conducted analysis on workforce data and found that more than 80% of migrants who have come to England to work in social care so far in 2016 were from the European Economic Area (EEA).

Of the almost 84,000 EEA migrants in the social care workforce, about 78,000 did not have British citizenship, they added.

The bodies said that the Government must ensure that EEA migrants working in social care in the UK had the right to remain post-Brexit.

Restrictions on new workers coming to the country could lead to a significant shortfall in the social care workforce, the organisations said, as they called on ministers to ensure the contribution of future migrant social care workers was recognised in any new approach to migration.

Meanwhile, more must be done to make social care work attractive to British-born workers, they added.

“Care services for elderly and disabled people have come to rely on migrant workers, especially from the European Union, so the consequences could be severe if they are unable to work here in future,” said Simon Bottery, director of policy at Independent Age.

“As with the NHS, we need to secure the right for these essential workers to remain in the UK. But, in the longer term, we have to recruit more British-born workers to social care and that means making sure that they are well paid, well trained and secure in their jobs. That can’t happen without a commitment to fund the care sector properly.”

Ben Franklin, head of economics of ageing of ILC-UK, added: “As the population ages we are going to need thousands more care workers to support increased need.

“It’s vital that the government recognises the invaluable contribution of workers from the EU in the care system and takes this into account when considering future models of delivering care.

“A continual failure to support and enhance the care workforce could result in thousands of frail and older people losing out on the proper care and support that they need.”

About 1.4 million people work in the adult social care sector in England.

Commenting on the anaylsis, Izzi Seccombe, chair of the Local Government Association’s community wellbeing board, said: “All of those working in the social care sector do a tremendous job and it is thanks to their hard work and dedication that our loved ones receive the care and support they deserve and live dignified and independent lives.

“Some of the most vulnerable people in society depend on our care workers, with many having built up important relationships that are fundamental to the support they receive.

“Yet we are in hugely challenging times in social care. The warnings of this report are a concern to councils, as losing any of the sector’s workforce would have an impact on our ability to manage the increasing levels of demand that we are facing from an ageing population at a time of severe funding pressures.

“We would be keen to see assurances from government that workers in the care sector will be given serious consideration in any new approach to workforce migration policy.”

A Government spokesman said: “The Prime Minister has been clear that she wants to protect the status of EU nationals already living here, and the only circumstances in which that wouldn’t be possible is if British citizens’ rights in European member states were not protected in return.

“At every step of these negotiations we will work to ensure the best possible outcome for the British people. We are about to begin these negotiations and it would be wrong to set out unilateral positions in advance.”

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