The number of foreign care workers applying to work in the United Kingdom has dropped by more than half, raising major concerns over the long-term future of the sector.
Provisional Home Office data shows health and care visa applications covering 153,500 people were made from October 2023 to March 2024, comprising 40,800 main applicants and 112,700 dependants.
It compares to 88,800 main applicants in the six months from April to September 2023, representing a concerning 57 per cent drop.
The data, published on Tuesday, also show the number of people per month included in health and care visa applications appears to have peaked in August 2023, at 41,600 (18,300 main applicants and 23,300 dependants).
Since then, the total has been on a broad downward trend and has fallen every month in a row since November 2023.
The figures have been released after foreign secretary James Cleverly announced a ban on overseas care workers from bringing dependants in March, a proposal that was heavily criticised at the time.
The current shortage occupation list regime was also scrapped, meaning employers will no longer be able to fill labour gaps by offering 20 per cent below the going rate for jobs.
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism has revealed that the UK’s care sector is facing a workforce crisis, with low pay, poor working conditions and job insecurity resulting in more than 100,000 unfilled roles.
Rising demand and an ageing population means the situation is likely to become even more dire, with more than 400,000 extra jobs needed over the next decade or so.
As a result, the industry is increasingly reliant on overseas workers to staff care homes and help provide other vital services, a lifeline they are now being stripped of.
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