International recruitment into adult social care has been identified by West Midlands ADASS, through its 2023 Future Thinking project, as an important factor in the resilience of the sector in the years ahead.
“I wouldn't want international recruitment to end tomorrow because there are some good people coming over and who we can support. A lot of international recruits are trained nurses and midwives and physiotherapists.
They're providing great skills as they are in some of our organisations...and it's quite unusual to be able to recruit staff with a lot of experience.”
Local Authority Commissioning Manager
Local authorities commission adult social care mainly from independent providers, many of them with fewer than 250 employees.
In 2022 one third of these small and medium enterprise providers were considering exiting the adult social care market due to workforce issues and cost pressures, moves which would significantly impact increasing population needs for adult social care.
In February 2022, care workers were added to the Shortage Occupation List and the Health and Care worker visa route. This meant that providing international care workers met the salary thresholds and had a licensed sponsor, they could be recruited to care worker roles in the UK.
Since then, the evidence shows that care providers have been able to recruit care workers internationally to reduce vacancy rates.
There have however been some concerns about international recruitment in adult social care. These include:
- The fact some providers have been put off by the administrative cost and burden.
- There have been reported incidences of unethical recruitment and exploitation by recruiting agencies and providers, which has led to revocation of some employer's sponsor license. This has had a significant impact on international recruits, some who have been left without employment and feeling vulnerable.
West Midlands International Recruitment Programme
The International Recruitment Fund from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) provided an opportunity for adult social care directors in the West Midlands to learn from other sectors to build a strong and resilient infrastructure around international recruitment to the adult social care workforce in our region.
Funding from the DHSC was provided in 2023-24 to help develop solutions to local challenges around the use of international recruitment and strengthen safeguards against exploitation. The DHSC then released additional funding for 2024-25 to:
- Support international recruits who are displaced due to sponsor revocation – these are individuals who have lost their sponsorship to work in the UK due to their employer's license being revoked
- Continue focusing on activities to prevent and respond to exploitative employment practices.
Find more information about the West Midlands International Recruitment Programmes from the links opposite.