A key Home Office immigration committee has advised the government to boost social care pay to avoid a post-Brexit jobs shortfall when freedom of movement ends.
The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) said the government should implement a “more sustainable and generous funding model” to make social care jobs more attractive to UK workers by increasing salaries rather than relying on migrants, particularly during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
In its ‘Review of the Shortage Occupation List: 2020’ report, MAC said the measure is necessary because there is no certainty of a rise in labour supply to the care sector as a result of job losses in other industries due to Covid-19.
“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 be particularly difficult to understand at a time when so many care occupations are central to the pandemic frontline response,” the report states.
The warning came after MAC advised the Home Office to add senior care workers to the Shortage Occupation List (SOL) to relieve post-Brexit pressure.
The MAC also recommended additions to separate lists for all of the devolved nations, allowing additional flexibility and reflecting the different needs of each.
“The number of migrants coming to work in the UK has already decreased and we are likely to see an increase in unemployment over the next year as the economic impact of the pandemic continues, so this has been a very challenging time to look at the SOL,” said MAC chairman Professor Brian Bell (pictured).
“We remain particularly concerned about the social care sector, which is so central to the frontline response to this health pandemic, as it will struggle to recruit the necessary staff if wages do not increase as a matter of urgency," he added.
