By Local Democracy Reporter Simon Finlay
The new Reform UK leadership at Kent County Council (KCC) has expressed “grave concerns” to the government about proposals to reduce health and social care visas.
KCC leader Linden Kemkaran has written to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper claiming the new immigration white paper could shut the overseas route to recruitment, which may represent up to a quarter of staff in that sector.
Cllr Kemkaran, who has received support for her stance from Liberal Democrat opposition leader at KCC, Cllr Antony Hook, is also angry KCC and care providers have not been formally notified of the Home Office changes.
The government states the document will make it harder to settle in the UK, with a view to reducing immigration numbers.
KCC has repeatedly warned central government about the growing demand for social care services and its increasing cost, which is currently around 70% of KCC’s annual £1.5bn budget.
The changes would see a reduction in the number of overseas visas in the United Kingdom and shutting the social care worker visa route to new applicants from 22 July this year.
KCC itself provides social care but also commissions other outside bodies.
Co-signed by Cllr Diane Morton, the KCC social care cabinet member, Cllr Kemkaran’s letter states: “Across the contracts for the council’s adult social care and health services there are approximately 150 providers we are aware of who have sponsorship licences which is equal to 20-25% of our social care workforce being from overseas.
“There are a number of displaced social care workers who may have lost their jobs, or the sponsoring provider has lost their licence.”
The letter adds: “Kent Integrated Care Alliance (KICA) has advised us that the Government has ringfenced £2m for the south east so providers could pick up these displaced people and get them into work.
“They would receive £5,000 each, however in three years’ time or when the visa expires, they are currently expected to pay the care worker £41,000 a year. This is £10,000 more than a band five nurse in the NHS.”
Coupled with the employers having to cover the cost of two national insurance rises, “this is totally unsustainable, and the risk is that many care workers at this level will go home and leave providers on a cliff edge”, says the letter.
Cllr Kemkaran adds: “This is obviously a national issue, and it is too early to describe the long-term impact on the council and care providers.
“Our contracts require all commissioned services to ensure they can deliver the required services and have business continuity plans in place and communicate any difficulties relating to service delivery.
“However, due to the challenges facing the adult social care system in general, and care providers in particular, we urge you to reconsider these changes and look forward to your support in addressing these urgent pressing matters.”
The same letter was sent to the minister for social care, Stephen Kinnock.
Both Ms Cooper’s and Mr Kinnock’s departments have been approached for comment.
Lib Dem Cllr Antony Hook said: “KCC has rightly acknowledged the importance of overseas workers to the care sector.
“Under the plans in the government’s immigration white paper, care providers will be able to apply until 2028 to extend their workers’ visas, but will have to pay the Home Office’s Immigration Skills Charge, which the Government is raising to £1,320 for each worker per year of their visa.
“This means a five-year extension for just one care worker would cost their employer £6,600 upfront. The Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to waive this fee for NHS and care staff.
“Imposing crippling Home Office fees on top of the Government’s misguided jobs tax (the national insurance increase) will just make the crisis even worse, pushing many care homes to the brink and leaving our loved ones in the lurch.
“People who have moved to the UK to look after our elderly and disabled people are doing tough jobs and helping to keep our NHS on its feet. They should be thanked for their contribution, not demonised.”
A Home Office statement said: “The expansion of the Health and Care route to include care workers has led to significant concerns over abuse and exploitation of workers from overseas. We have taken steps to address these concerns but the evidence has shown that more needed to be done, which is why we are closing the route to overseas recruitment.
“We have provided a funding boost of up to £3.7 billion to support social care authorities in 2025-26. To boost domestic recruitment, we are strengthening care careers through a new career structure alongside qualifications and opportunities for learning and development, and we have established legislation for the first ever Fair Pay Agreement for adult social care.”
So Reform UK are in favour of increased immigration in order to pay low wages (which means they’re also in favour of the higher welfare spending needed to subsidise low wages)?! Weird
The hypocrisy is staggering!
When push comes to shove class war not ‘culture war’ is the name of the game for capitalism and all shades of politician. Propaganda keeps the proles onside (or at least guessing) but cheap labour and keeping the workers working is what it’s all about.
Just say ‘No’
Remind me, how many people are unemployed in Kent? Training + better wages are the answer, NOT an increase in low-paid overseas workers, and all the housing etc that will be needed for them… and I say that as someone who has visited and enjoyed several European countries and like the people from there, so I’m not anti-immigrants as such.
More a case of changing the benefit system so that it isn’t a better option than working. Bonkers bringing in people to work when we have so many doing nothing to earn their keep.
Even Reform themselves have started to discover the contradictions in their political theory. There will be more.
They’ll be a worse disaster than Tories & Labour combined if they ever get into government!
In the real world a lot of people who say they want to stop immigration will be first to complain when they can’t get granny into a home for less than £2k a month. The care sector is very dependant on non Uk staff, who do a great job and I’d rather have them wanting to do that job than someone who has been forced to do it or lose their benefits and couldn’t give a damn. Real politics
Not something our tik toc generation want to do ….
No people want to stop illegal immigration. Even reform want immigrants. I don’t think anyone should have an issue with taking skills out of another country and using it for our own benefit.
What we don’t need is the scum from these countries tagging along adding to the British born undesirables who we already have our hands full with.
Johnny – I think your figure is totally wrong regarding looking after granny for £2000 a month! Better think about £4000 – £4800 – I paid back in 2021 £1000 per week basic care/nursing fees.and no doubt these fees have greatly increased due to Labour government miss management and greed.
Apologies. Yes I got that wrong – per week not per month- and in reply to another comment, I think Reform may well accept the need for immigration but many of the people who vote for them do not
Many? You mean most Reform voters? Or certain types of people who might vote reform?
“Reform council begs for MORE immigrants”. You couldn’t make it up! But when their anti-immigrant dreams collide with reality , this time reality has won. I dread the day Reform gets into real power , hit reality , and start using the jack boots and prison camps to MAKE reality fit.
More a case of theninanity of modern politics, where it’s seemingly more important to criticise the last government or the opposition than actually have a coherent plan/policy
This is why we need a coherent immigration policy. Skilled workers to fill gaps in our workforce and pay tax – yes definitely. Thousands of undocumented young men coming across in dinghies who will probably end up working in the black economy or illegally – no thank you.
lol. First reform say the people of Kent don’t want actual reform in local government and try to fight reforms to KCC and now they want to increase migrants and not reduce it.
Honestly it has to be parody. People will still vote for them.
Things must be bad when I 100% agree with Nut Depressed!
I am clearly in a parallel world. Reform was elected on a ‘stop the boats’ campaign.Now the local leader of that campaign is saying that you got it all wrong, we don’t like immigrants coming here on dinghies and who form a tiny section of total immigration, but we do want immigrants from the Indian sub continent and the Philippines.
Perhaps if this same mob had not lied over Brexit,this back tracking would have been unnecessary.
I suppose Farage will now disown her and make someone else leader.
It’s a bit like Monty Python where they constantly fire the directors of the film they are showing.
We are just on two months in, and already the asylum is in crisis, with the inmates running it.
I would love to hear what some of Reform’s supporters have to say about this.
I’d also love to hear what some of Labour’s supporters have to say about the state of the country since they were elected.
It works both ways, Ozzy.
You need to read their public pledges on immigration. I have copied a bit below so you don’t have to do any of your own research.
Two of Reform UK’s core five pledges are to do with migration. The party says it would freeze non-essential immigration, but concedes there would be exceptions with work in healthcare considered essential.
So, yes, it’s entirely possible to allow healthcare related immigration as that’s a skill we don’t have in our workforce but also want to stop undocumented males landing in dinghies who will probably go on to work in the black economy or work illegally waiting for their asylum claim to be processed. Although the blinkered will claim they are dinghies full of Doctors, engineers or scientists ready to play a full part in British society rather than drug running or working in car washes, food delivery drivers or barbers.
I’m waiting to see what Reform have to say about the emerging national scandal which is the thousands of Afghans needing to be housed in the UK due to successive government incompetence and cover ups. It’s a good job that Labour are committing to building thousands of new houses as they’ll be needed for these people.
You should hear the stories about the quality of care that comes from overseas, a dying friend of mine was given food that the carers heated in a kettle. They spike bo English so could not give him his medication, unable to carry out the most basic tasks, the entire thing is an immigration scandal.
Reform policy has never been to stop all immigration, illegal yes, they have always stated that levels of immigration must be bought down but if certain employment sectors need boosting then those workers would be welcome. Sounds like common sense to me.
That’s not how they campaign or debate policy.At every juncture they complain about immigration and how immigrants are taking jobs benefits,commit crime etc etc,so no not common sense but hypocrisy.
Instead of having a sensible safe way of pro rising asylum claims, we have large numbers of police playing ducks and drakes with desperate people,because of politics.cutting the overseas aid budget doesn’t help either, because if we helped to stabilise and create better local economies, people would stay at home,rather than risk death, or be at the mercy of people smugglers.
As for Labour,too much time has been spent decaying the past 14 years and not enough taxing wealth fairly and dealing with the vested interests like water companies,bus companies and jerry builder developers.
We need to examine our own consciences because we moan about tax, and then complain about lack of services.
What ever happened to the world of crazy Arthur brown? He was a true beacon of society, with an open fire strapped to his head.i would like our pop tastic Peter Checksfield to show us how it was done.
“That’s not how they campaign”
It was literally in their election manifesto and public pledges.
The notion that we can afford to stabilise foreign nations is daft, the whole time our system offers a better standard of living that an economic migrants homeland they’ll keep coming. We’d never be able to raise the living standards (of say the Congo) sufficiently to stop people arriving.
The only real sanction we have is to ( similar to Trump) say take your people back or we’ll stop all visas for your people. Very blunt tool and risks damaging trade and industry , but is a tool within our gift.
Not really the west has been destabilising countries for years,perhaps if we started not interfering in their affairs or dropping bunker buster bombs on them, that might be a start. I am not talking about creating a western style economy, just one that is not quite so broken.
The whole point of Nigel Farage’s Brexit was to stop the immigrants coming over and taking our jobs. But now Nigel Farage’s Reform asking for more immigrants to come here to work. Hypocrisy.