As some of you may be aware, the Department of Health and Social Care are making funding available for International Recruitment in Adult Social Care for 2025/26. The priority objective is to continue support for displaced International Recruits whose employers have had their sponsorship licence Revoked, find new alternate employment. Two further aims are to:
- Continue engagement through regional networks with ASC Providers to encourage recruitment for displaced workers and support ethical recruitment practices
- Prevent and respond to illegitimate use of the health and care visa route.
On 12th March, the government announced changes relating to international recruitment of care workers and senior care workers New rules to prioritise recruiting care workers in England – GOV.UK. As such, from 9th April, care providers in England who wish to recruit a new worker from overseas, or those switching from another visa route, will have to first prove that they have attempted to recruit a worker from within the UK who is already in the route and needs new sponsorship.
What this means in the Eastern Region is you will need to contact your local Spoke (shown below) to demonstrate you have sought to recruit a worker who:
- Is in the UK,
- Was last sponsored as a Care Worker or Senior Care Worker,
- Needs to be sponsored because their most recent sponsor’s license was revoked by UKVI or has been identified by your Spoke as needing assistance in obtaining new sponsorship.
If you work in Hertfordshire or Essex, your Spoke contact will be
Mailbox: EssexSuffolkHertsIR@essex.gov.uk
If you work in Cambridgeshire, your Spoke contact will be
Mailbox: irsupportcambs@cambridgeshire.gov.uk
The Department for Health and Social Care together with UKVI ran three half hour Provider Sessions this week. This was at short notice. A document is currently being compiled to by the East of England group, to capture Provider’s ‘Frequently Asked Questions’. As soon as this becomes available, we will feature this in our weekly newsletter.