Carers ‘low-paid not low-skilled’: Age UK

Charity warns Brexit will shut out needed staff from sector

EU carers must be allowed to continue coming to the UK for work regardless of what happens with Brexit, a charity has said.

Age UK warned that the number of carer vacancies will only rise unless the government takes action to continue to allow EU staff to work in the UK.

It said there are around 110,000 job vacancies in care in England already, with high numbers of staff leaving the care sector every year.

At present, around 104,000 care jobs are held by EU nationals.

Age UK has written to Home Secretary Sajid Javid saying EU carers must be exempt from proposed new rules that say low-skilled EU workers should no longer have preferential access to the UK.

Last year, the Migration Advisory Committee said high-skilled workers made a positive contribution to the public finances.

It recommended a policy allowing greater access for higher-skilled migration while restricting access for lower-skilled workers, such as those earning less than £30,000.

Age UK, which said it has not yet received a reply from the Home Office, has argued that carers are low-paid, not low-skilled.

It has also warned of a particular impact on live-in care. At present, many of these jobs are held by EU carers who move in and out of the country regularly.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: “The social care workforce is already struggling but if, after a UK withdrawal, we shut the door on staff from the EU we’ll make a bad situation even worse.”

Kevin Bentley, chairman of the Local Government Association’s Brexit Taskforce, said 8% of social care staff are non-UK EU nationals and “therefore represents one of the sectors most vulnerable to changes in migration rules”.

If, after a UK withdrawal, we shut the door on staff from the EU, we’ll make a bad situation even worse. CAROLINE ABRAHAMS, AGE UK CHARITY DIRECTOR

AP. People dressed for the cold weather pass by flags tied to railings outside parliament in London.