In June, LaMP presented its proposals at a parliamentary roundtable convened by the APPG for Adult Social Care and the APPG on Migration, chaired by Tim Farron MP, to examine the future of the adult social care workforce – a year on from the closure of the Health and Care Worker visa route. This week, the two APPGs published their joint paper, From Commitment to Delivery: Securing the Adult Social Care Workforce. We’re pleased to have helped shape both the push for this paper and much of what it recommends.
This work lands at a significant moment for the Casey Commission – an independent review chaired by Baroness Louise Casey to recommend how to reform and transform adult social care in England. Following the Prime Minister’s July policy speech, the Commission’s second phase – covering the longer-term transformation of the care system, including funding and workforce design – has been brought forward from its original 2028 timeline to summer 2027. That creates a narrower but more urgent window for the evidence in this paper, and the principles we’ve been advocating, to shape the foundations of a “National Care Service”.
The evidence we brought to the table
Our contribution to the roundtable drew on 15 months of consultation with more than 100 stakeholders across the UK’s migration and care sectors – including care providers, regional hubs, matching platforms, government officials, civil society organizations and migrant workers themselves.
What emerged was a picture of a system under strain, with several problems reinforcing one another. Care vacancy rates remain around three times higher than the whole-economy average. Around 26,000 care workers have been displaced since the closure of the international recruitment route, yet there is no unified system to connect displaced workers with employers who need staff. At the same time, new Certificates of Sponsorship can take 8–20 weeks to issue, while displaced workers have just 60 days to find a new sponsor before losing their right to remain.
The result is a system in which employers can have urgent workforce needs while experienced workers are left navigating a fragmented and time-critical process to stay in work.
The building blocks of a sustainable workforce system
The APPGs’ paper sets out several recommendations for building a more sustainable adult social care workforce. Several closely reflect principles LaMP has been advocating through our work with the sector over the past 15 months.
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Make workforce need the starting point
The paper calls for a “workforce-led and ethical approach to future migration”, developed jointly with the sector and based on clear evidence of demand.
This is something we’ve been pushing for: migration policy should be connected to real workforce planning and labor market needs, with the sector involved in shaping how international recruitment works in practice.
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Build a system that is transparent, accountable and protects workers
The paper recommends a national care workforce register, alongside greater portability between licensed providers.
We’ve been making the case for both. A more transparent system for workers, employers and recruitment agencies would make it easier to understand who is operating within the system, while greater portability can give workers more security when employment breaks down – and reduce the power imbalance that can leave workers vulnerable to exploitation.
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International recruitment should complement domestic investment
The paper is clear that “international recruitment must complement, rather than replace, sustained investment in the domestic workforce.”
That is another principle we’ve consistently advocated: international recruitment is one component of a sustainable workforce strategy, alongside better pay and conditions, skills recognition and genuine opportunities for progression.
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Set standards through bilateral partnerships
The paper also highlights the importance of international partnerships in developing sustainable workforce pathways.
Our work has looked at models where governments work together to establish standards before workers leave their country of origin — including pre-departure training, ethical recruitment requirements and worker protections.
Done well, these partnerships can give workers and employers greater clarity from the outset, while helping to address the recruitment costs and information gaps that can leave workers vulnerable to debt and exploitation.
These are not new ideas. They are principles we’ve been hearing from stakeholders and advocating for throughout our work on care workforce migration – and it is encouraging to see them reflected in the recommendations now on the table.
A step towards greater portability – but the detail matters
The government’s latest changes to the Skilled Worker rules underline why portability matters. From October, people on Skilled Worker visas who are formally recognized as victims of modern slavery will be able to leave an abusive employer and work for another employer – or in another occupation – for the remainder of their existing visa. The change is intended to remove the risk that immigration status itself keeps someone trapped with an exploitative sponsor.
This is an important development. But, as ever, the details will determine how far it works in practice. The new protection depends on a worker receiving formal recognition as a victim through the National Referral Mechanism, so questions around access, evidence, timing and support through that process will be critical. Workers who have experienced exploitation but have not received that recognition remain subject to the existing sponsorship constraints.
For LaMP, this reinforces a broader point from our work with the sector: portability should be understood not simply as an immigration mechanism, but as a safeguard against exploitation. The stronger the ability of workers to move when employment breaks down, the less leverage an abusive employer has over their immigration status.
What happens next?
The publication of the paper is an important point in the conversation – but the real test will be what happens next.
The APPGs’ recommendation for a joint DHSC-Home Office review, alongside a clearer national framework for the care workforce, creates an opportunity to bring together the different parts of a system that have too often been addressed separately. Any future approach to workforce migration will need to be developed with the sector, regulators and workers themselves, and grounded in a clear understanding of workforce need.
That is also why sustained engagement matters. Over the past 15 months, conversations with providers, workers, government and other stakeholders have helped build a more detailed picture of what is and isn’t working on the ground. The next step is to make sure that practical experience continues to shape the policy that follows.
We’re pleased to have contributed to this process and we’ll continue working with partners across the sector to support the implementation of these recommendations – and to help build a care workforce system that is sustainable, transparent and fair.
Thank you to the organisations and individuals who have contributed evidence and insight to this work including the Open Society Foundation, Citizens UK, the Migration Policy Institute, RAMP, the Social Markets Foundation, Care England, Borderless, the National Care Forum, the Workers Rights Centre, Justice and Care, the National Care Association, the Home Care Association, Scottish Care, Aston Brooke Solicitors, and Lifted.
