Home Office confirms expansion of Shortage Occupation List to include care workers

On 24 January 2022, the Home Office issued a Statement of Changes confirming that the recommendation of the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to add the Skilled Occupation Code for Care Workers and home carers (6145) to both the Home office’s Shortage Occupation List and the list of jobs eligible for a Health and Care Worker visa shall come into effect on 15 February 2022.

The recommendation from the MAC came in recognition of the difficulties experienced in the care sector both in terms of recruitment and retention of care workers following both Brexit and the pandemic. On 24 December 2021, the Home Office confirmed that it would be accepting the MAC’s recommendation in relation to care workers and home carers and that the relevant job code would be added to the list of jobs eligible on the Shortage Occupation List.

The Statement of Changes confirms that the change shall be implemented from 15 February 2022 in an effort to alleviate the pressures felt by this sector in terms of staff shortages. However, whilst accepting of the MAC’s recommendation, the Home Office believes that this shall be a short-term solution to respond to the difficulties felt by the care sector, but maintains that immigration is not the only solution to the problem.

By adding the care workers and home carers (and associated jobs such as care assistant, carer, home care assistant, and support worker (nursing home)) to the list of shortage occupation jobs and jobs eligible for a Health and Care Worker visa, brings these jobs within the scope of the Skilled Worker sponsorship regime as they were previously excluded on the basis that they did not meet the required skill level. Furthermore, the addition of these jobs to the Home Office Shortage Occupation List means that workers in these roles shall be subject to a reduced salary requirement of a minimum of £20,480 per year and £10.10 per hour. Additionally, Health and Care Workers are entitled to reduced application fees and are exempt from paying the Immigration Health Surcharge fees.

However, the nature of the content of the statement of Changes indicate that if the job code is removed from the shortage Occupation List in the future, workers shall no longer be eligible for sponsorship under this job code as the code itself has not been added to the list of job codes eligible for a Skilled Worker visa.

The implementation of the MAC’s recommendation means workers in the care sector will be eligible to obtain sponsorship. However, under the Health and Care Worker visa regime, workers are still required to be sponsored by an eligible sponsor. This means that sponsorship must be with the NHS, an organisation providing medical services to the NHS, or an organisation providing adult social care. This unfortunately means that care workers employed through agencies shall not be able to take advantage of this change.

The Home Office has indicated that they shall review the success of this change in late 2022.

If you would like any advice or assistance regarding a sponsor licence, then please do not hesitate to contact one of the experienced solicitors in our immigration team.