THE government must scrap its “catastrophic” ban on overseas workers, Unison and the National Care Forum have said in a letter to Health Secretary Victoria Atkins.

Services for millions of families would be undermined under the “cruel” plan, the two organisations warn Ms Atkins.

In the joint letter, which has been published today, they say: “These announcements appear to have been made without proper planning, consultation or information, resulting in ministers giving contradictory and confusing explanations.

“The social care sector simply couldn’t function without overseas staff.

“Migrant care workers face Christmas in limbo, worrying about what will happen to their families when they renew their visas or change employers.

“Many are already expressing regret about coming to the UK and making plans to move to more welcoming parts of the world.”

In their letter, Unison and the National Care Forum condemn Home Secretary James Cleverly’s claim that overseas staff are displacing British workers from care jobs as a “patently untrue” attempt to justify the new visa rules.

They point out that the sector’s workforce “has always contained a sizeable proportion of people from beyond the UK.

“Recruiting from other countries has been actively encouraged by the government too.”

Unison general secretary Christina McAnea warned that the care sector would “grind to a halt without staff from overseas.

“Overseas carers have been treated appallingly by ministers,” she said.

“Many sold everything to fund their move to the UK.

“Now migrants are essentially being told they’re no longer welcome.”

She added: “Next year’s rise in the minimum wage might help a little, but pay rates in care will have to increase significantly for the sector’s recruitment crisis to ease.

“Social care requires a major fix, but this is certainly not it.

“The government’s draconian policies risk driving migrant care workers away.

“To make matters worse, all this happened without a word to anyone in the care sector.”

Professor Vic Rayner, chief executive of the National Care Forum, which represents care and support services, added: “Singling out care workers for restrictions on bringing dependents into the UK seems unfair on international care workers.”

Councillor David Fothergill, chairman of the Local Government Association’s community wellbeing board, highlighted the importance of international recruits to the sector.

He said: “Career pathways have to be developed and training and development offers need to be improved to raise the status of people working in these vital roles.”