BREXIT - WARNING FOR CARE SECTOR IN PANDEMIC AS FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT ENDS

 The Guardian 29 September 2020 - by Jamie Grierson Home affairs correspondent

© Provided by The Guardian Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA

The end of freedom of movement will increase pressure on the social care sector in the midst of a pandemic unless ministers make jobs more attractive to UK workers by increasing salaries, government advisers have warned.

The Migration Advisory Committee (Mac) has warned of the “stark consequences” of low wages in social care with most frontline role ineligible for the post-Brexit skilled worker immigration route or on the official list for job shortages in the UK.

Senior care workers and nursing assistants are among healthcare roles that can be added to the shortage occupation list (SOL) to relieve pressure when freedom of movements ends on 1 January, the committee said in a report.

But many of the roles in social care do not qualify and the advisers said “it therefore remains crucial that the government implements a more sustainable and generous funding model”.

“The risks of this not happening in a timely manner are stark,” the report reads. “If that does not occur, or occurs with substantial delay, we would expect the end of freedom of movement to increase the pressure on the social care sector, something that would be particularly difficult to understand at a time when so many care occupations are central to the Covid-19 pandemic frontline response.”

© Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA Care home staff during the clap for carers initiative in May.