Hundreds of thousands of non-UK nationals working in London’s health and social care sector are likely to be hit by the Government’s new migration policies, Mayor Sadiq Khan has warned.
The Government announced last week it was increasing the salary threshold for skilled migrants coming to the UK for work from £26,200 to £38,700.
The minimum income required by a UK citizen to bring a non-UK spouse into the country will also increase by more than £20,000 from Spring 2024.
New analysis by the Greater London Authority (GLA) estimates that the changes are likely to impact 200,000 non-UK nationals working in the health and social care sector in the capital.
‘This analysis lays bare the devastating impact the Government’s misguided migration policies could have on sectors crucial to London and the UK’s economy,’ Mayor Khan said.
He added that while it was vital to train British workers, the Government ‘needs to realise that these latest immigration policies will lead to a full-blown recruitment crisis.’
Announcing the Government’s new plans last week, Home Secretary James Cleverly said that net migration ‘remains far too high.’
‘My plan will deliver the biggest ever reduction in net migration and will mean around 300,000 people who came to the UK last year would not have been able to do so. I am taking decisive action to halt the drastic rise in our work visa routes and crack down on those who seek to take advantage of our hospitality.’
According to the Migration Observatory, the UK has experienced broadly similar levels of migration compared to other high-income countries over the past few decades. However, net migration was unusually high in 2022, due to several factors including the war in Ukraine.
Estimates from the Office for National Statistics suggest that total net migration was 606,000 in the year ending December 2022 – an increase on pre-pandemic estimates of between 300,000 and 400,000.
