A social care leader has said a pledge by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage to abolish indefinite leave to remain (ILR) would be ‘potentially catastrophic’ for social care.
Mario Kreft MBE, chair of Care Forum Wales, said it would be hugely damaging to care homes and home care companies who rely on overseas workers and put more pressure on the already beleaguered NHS.
Under proposals set out on Monday, Farage said Reform UK would replace ILR with visas that force migrants to reapply every five years.
Kreft said the Reform proposals amounted to ‘changing the rules of the game half way through’.
‘We are already suffering a major staffing crisis in Wales with more than 10,000 vacancies in social care,’ Kreft said.
‘If we lose people that we cannot replace and that is highly likely from this misguided policy, then inevitably, great pressure will be put on the system.’
‘It would all fall back on the NHS and when the social care sector sneezes, the NHS catches a cold. This is madness.’
A Reform UK spokesman said: ‘Under our plans, anyone that currently has ILR will be eligible to apply for a five-year renewable visa. Reform will also issue Acute Skills Shortage Visas (ASSV) where there is clear evidence of acute shortages in national-critical roles, such as in the NHS and care sector.’
Lee Peart is editor of Hemming Group’s Healthcare Management magazine.
To learn more about Reform UK, check out: Reform UK: What Britain’s fastest rising party stands for and Reform UK’s ‘Doge’ witch-hunts will achieve little.
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