Care boss 'really worried' over immigration plans

A care boss says she is "incredibly worried" by government plans to ban care workers from being recruited from overseas.

She has spoken out after the prime minister announced the measure as one of several aimed at reducing net migration, which he said would bring the UK immigration system "back into control".

But for Julia Senah, who runs Almond Care, an in-home complex care provider in Nuneaton, foreign workers are vital.

"A large proportion of our workforce [of 130], more than 80%, is actually from abroad," she explained. "Including myself."

Net migration last year stood at 728,000. The Home Office estimates the plans could reduce immigration by 100,000 a year by 2029.

Sir Keir Starmer wants to increase the qualifications needed to obtain a skilled worker visa, impose stricter English-language requirements and make employers pay more to recruit from abroad.

New care workers recruited will have to be British nationals.

The vast majority of Julia Senah's staff at Almond Care are from overseas

But Ms Senah, who has lived in the UK for 30 years, said part of the problem was that British people do not seem to want to work in care.

"We were putting adverts out, doing everything, she said. "And people were just not applying for jobs.

"In the end, we had to start recruiting from abroad - and we got loads and loads of applicants. It just made life so much easier."

'Do job passionately'

One of Ms Senah's employees, Dina - not her real name - has been working at Almond Care for four years, after moving from Zimbabwe.

She is also concerned about the impact of the plans on existing care workers.

"Most migrants are reliable people," she said. "We show up at work on time, we do our job passionately. And most [of us] have a nursing background back home.

"So, working in the UK is us just using our skills to do what we know, better.

"But now they're saying they're no longer wanting to recruit from abroad – that's going to lead to burnouts for the current ones [because there are already a lot of vacancies that need to be filled]."

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced a range of measures aimed at reducing net migration

Dina's colleague and compatriot, Margaret Katsande, has been in the UK for a year after working in a hospital in Zimbabwe.

"It's really sad, because there are people who are looking for an opportunity that I got. And the UK can provide that," she said.

"The UK has enabled me to gain more knowledge than I had back home. We have training, so it's [made me] a better carer."

The government said its plans for fair pay in social care would boost recruitment in the sector.

But Ms Senah remains unconvinced.

"Even if we increased pay... [British] people, for some reason, just don't want to do care work," she said.

"I don't know why, but they just don't want to."