The former Deputy Prime Minister, a former carer, said migrant staff were trapped in a system that leaves them at the mercy of an employer over their right to remain in the UK
Angela Rayner has piled fresh pressure on the Government to shake-up visa rules that leave care workers living in fear.
The former Deputy Prime Minister, a former carer, said migrant staff were trapped in a system that leaves them at the mercy of an employer over their right to remain in the UK. Fear of deportation can leave people afraid to speak up about bullying or unsafe conditions.
Ms Rayner called for sector-wide visas in social care to allow staff to move around between employers and take power away from individual bosses. She also restated her criticism of Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s proposals to make it harder for people to permanently settle in Britain. Staff who arrived on post-Brexit health and social care visas could see the wait for to qualify for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) extended from five to 15 years.
Speaking at a rally organised by Unison on Wednesday, she said: “We need to end the exploitation of your visas being tied to a single employer. We need it to be sector-wide, so you can’t be exploited, bullied or treated unfairly.”
Pointing to proposed ILR changes, she said: “You came to this country with a promise and an expectation. We should fulfil that promise. We shouldn’t be changing the rules halfway, we should accept the promises we made and we should stick to them.”
Ms Rayner also called for a fair pay agreement for care workers “as soon as possible”, to raise wages and conditions across the board.
Her comments came as care workers descended on Westminster to urge the Government to rethink its plans, which Unison said would worsen chronic staffing shortages in the sector. General Secretary Andrea Egan said: “This is a cruel policy that goes against British values. Staff were recruited to fill critical gaps in the workforce on the basis that they could settle here after five years.
“It’s an outrage to change the rules after they’ve arrived and have devoted themselves to this essential work. The five-year route must remain, and the power of visa sponsorship must be removed from employers. Taking care of carers means fewer people will suffer alone.”
Unison says migrant staff make up nearly 30% of the workforce, at a time when there are already around 111,000 vacancies in England alone. The union delivered a letter to Keir Starmer on Wednesday to highlight the impact the changes could have on carers and the people they look after.
Ms Mahmood has argued that migrants must earn the right to settle in the UK, with the qualifying period for ILR extended from five to 10 years. The Government has said that 1.6million people would get an automatic right to settle in the UK by 2030 unless the rules are changed to apply retrospectively.
Under plans currently being looked at, high earners and NHS staff would be fast-tracked, while those in lower paid jobs would face longer waits. People could cut their waiting time by doing volunteering work in their communities, the Home Secretary has said.
On immigration reforms, a Home Office spokesperson previously told the Mirror: “We will always welcome those that come to this country and contribute to our national life. But the privilege of living here forever should be earned, not automatic.
“But between 2021 and 2024, this country experienced levels of migration it had historically seen over four decades. We must be honest about the scale and impact of hundreds of thousands of low-skilled migrants getting settlement.
“The Government will double the route to settlement from five to ten years. As announced in November, we are consulting to apply this change to those in the UK today but have not received settled status. We are currently reviewing the 200,000 responses and will outline our response in due course.”