TUC general secretary Paul Nowak has urged Prime Minister Andy Burnham to reconsider planned migration reforms, warning they could worsen staffing shortages in social care and fuel far-right sentiment.
The Home Office is currently consulting on proposals that would require more than 300,000 low-paid workers to wait 15 years for the legal right to remain in the UK, including carers who were told they could apply for indefinite leave to remain after five years.
Speaking ahead of the TUC's Brighton conference next week, Nowak branded changes to indefinite leave to remain rules for people already in the UK ‘fundamentally unfair.’
With 111,000 vacancies currently unfilled in the sector, he said Britain must train more domestic workers but will likely still need overseas staff amid an ageing population.
Further reading:
Beyond the Language of Crisis: Fixing social care's workforce problem
Social Care Crisis: What local government needs to know
