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‘Are we prepared to let our most vulnerable bear the brunt?’: Care chiefs slam Starmer’s ban on overseas care workers
12 May 2025, 18:32 | Updated: 13 May 2025, 06:05
Sir Keir Starmer's decision to end the recruitment of care workers from abroad is "deeply worrying" for the social care sector, a care home CEO has warned.
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Kevin Humphrys, CEO of the Oakland Care Group, expressed his concern after the Prime Minister announced on Monday that migrant workers would be banned from taking jobs in care homes.
The care home boss said international hiring had been a "cornerstone of maintaining a stable workforce" in social care, adding that its removal left the sector in an "impossible position".
Writing for the LBC App, Mr Humphrys asked: "As a society, we must ask ourselves: are we prepared to let our most vulnerable people bear the brunt of this decision?
"The previous relaxation of immigration rules, which allowed us to recruit care workers under the health and care visa scheme, was a lifeline for the sector.
"Social care is not an optional luxury; it is a fundamental pillar of a compassionate, functioning society. If the government is serious about fixing the care sector, it must provide immediate solutions, not just long-term promises."
It comes as the Chief Executive of Care England also warned that care homes would be forced to close as a result of the Government’s latest crackdown on immigration.
Speaking to LBC, Professor Martin Green rejected Sir Keir Starmer’s claim the UK is “addicted to cheap labour” as he warned of the devastating impact the Government's plans could have on the care industry.
LBC caller blames migration for NHS waiting times
When asked if this will see homes close, Professor Green said: "Yes, and we are already seeing that.
"So we're seeing people who are no longer able to sustain their services. And, of course, the impact on that is going to be huge for the people who are in those care services, for the dedicated staff who are working there.
“But also, I think one of the things that's not understood is that there is a huge number of people who are not getting care and support when they actually need it, so their needs are going to be pushed further and further down the road.
“And what we're finding is the only way you can get care and support is to have a crisis. So it might be to have a fall or to be in a situation where your dementia becomes so bad you can't live on your own. And in those circumstances, there will not be enough provision for those people.”
Speaking on Monday morning, Sir Keir slammed the previous government for making Britain “addicted to cheap labour” as he promised to “significantly” cut net migration.
Speaking at a press conference in Westminster, he said of the rise in immigration under the previous government: “It was a choice, a choice made even as they told you, told the country, they were doing the opposite.
"A One Nation experiment in open borders conducted on a country that voted for control.
“Well, no more.
“Today, this Labour Government is shutting down the lab. The experiment is over.”
Professor Martin Green rejected this assessment, telling Simon Conway on LBC News: “Well, I don't think we're addicted to importing cheap labour and certainly if you have somebody from overseas, it is not a cheap option.
“The government specifies how much you have to pay people and sometimes that's more than in country staff are paid.
“And the reason we have engaged with overseas recruitment is because we have chronic shortages within the care sector. You know, we had significant numbers of people who are in posts that are vacant at the moment, and we're trying to make sure that there are enough staff to provide good quality care to people who need it.
“So it's certainly not about being addicted to cheap labour. And what I think the Government's programme misses is the route map to how we're going to encourage people in the UK to join the care workforce. And there seems to be a lot of sound biting from the government, but very few route maps to delivery.”
Responding to the new migration plan, the Liberal Democrats said: “Today marks yet another announcement from the Government of tinkering around the edges yet failing to properly tackle the crisis in our social care.
“Labour must step up and take proper action to address recruitment shortages including paying our care workers properly and rolling out a plan for career progression.
“This action must be taken without delay to ensure patients can receive the high quality care they need.”
Under the plans, skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.
Sir Keir said without controls on immigration, “we risk becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together” as he slammed the Tories for running a "experiment" on open borders.
"The chaos of the previous government also changed the nature of immigration in this country," he said.
"Fewer people who make a strong economic contribution, more who work in parts of our economy that put downward pressure on wages.
"So perhaps the biggest change in this White Paper is that we will finally honour what 'take back control meant' and begin to choose who comes here so that migration works for our national interest."
He told reporters the plan “will finally take back control of our borders and close the book on a squalid chapter for our politics, our economy and our country”.
He added: “‘Take back control.’ Everyone knows that slogan, and everyone knows what it meant on immigration, or at least that’s what people thought.
“Because what followed from the previous government, starting with the people who used that slogan, was the complete opposite.
“Between 2019 and 2023, even as they were going round our country, telling people with a straight face that they would get immigration down, net migration quadrupled, until in 2023 it reached nearly one million.
“That’s about the population of Birmingham, our second largest city. That’s not control. It’s chaos.”
He added: "We talked last week about the great rebuilding of this country after the war.
"Migrants were part of that and they make a massive contribution today. And you will never hear me denigrate that.
"But when people come to our country, they should also commit to integration, to learning our language. And our system should actively distinguish between those that do and those that don't. I think that's fair."
When pressed on how Britain will fill the job gaps caused by lower migration, Sir Keir said: "If you can work, you should."
“I’m promising it (net migration) will fall significantly, and I do want to get it down by the end of this Parliament, significantly.
“That is what this plan is intended to achieve.
“This White Paper, these plans bring it back into control, make sure it’s controlled, that it’s selective, that we decide who comes to this country, and that it is fair, and that’s what we will do.
“Significant reduction in immigration and, as I’ve indicated, if it becomes necessary to take further measures, then that’s what we will do.”
