Pay Carers Better Or Risk 'Stark' Staff Shortages After Brexit, Official Advisers Warn
Frontline social care workers should be paid at least £10 an hour or there will be staff shortages after Brexit in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, government advisers have warned.
The end of free movement of EU workers into the UK poses “stark” risks of increased pressure on social care unless ministers urgently boost funding and wages to attract British workers to fill shortages, the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) said.
MAC chair Professor Brian Bell said the government should be looking to boost wages to at least £10 an hour to attract domestic workers to fill care staff shortages.
But health secretary Matt Hancock warned earlier this month that Covid-19 had delayed the government’s efforts to deliver a new long-term funding settlement for social care – which had been a Tory manifesto pledge.
The government has faced criticism for failing to do enough to prevent tens of thousands of deaths in care homes during the pandemic.
On Tuesday, the committee added senior care workers and nursing assistants to the “shortage occupation” list, which will mean they find it easier to enter the UK once the Brexit transition and free movement end on December 31.
But frontline care workers are not eligible for the list because they are not classed by the government as “skilled” workers, meaning they will find it very difficult to enter the UK from 2021 under home secretary Priti Patel’s points-based immigration.
MAC said it had argued “for years” that social care funding needs to be boosted so higher wages can be paid to make frontline roles more attractive to British workers, instead of the sector “relying on migrant workers to fill the gaps”.
Its report on shortage occupations said: “The risks of this funding increase not happening in a timely manner are stark.
“If that does not occur, or occurs with substantial delay, we would expect the end of freedom of movement to increase the pressure on the social care sector, something that would...
