Care England Responds: “A crushing blow to an already fragile sector”

Responding to the Government’s announcement that the care worker visa route will be closed, Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive of Care England, said:

“This is a crushing blow to an already fragile sector. The Government is kicking us while we’re already down.

 

For years, the sector has been propping itself up with dwindling resources, rising costs, and mounting vacancies. 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 short-sighted – it’s cruel.

 

We’re told to wait for the Employment Rights Bill and a Fair Pay Agreement, but those reforms are years away and come with no significant funding attached. In the meantime, we’ve lost 70,000 domestic workers over the last two years, vacancies still remain sky-high, and many providers are on the brink of collapse. Who do Ministers think is going to care for people tomorrow, next week, or next month?

 

Once again, social care is being sacrificed to score political points. There’s a dangerous pattern emerging; action is too slow where it’s needed, and too fast when it’s harmful. The sector cannot take any more. We need proper funding, a real workforce plan, and immediate recognition that without care, the NHS, our communities, and countless families will fall apart.”