UNIONS slammed the government today for its “ill-thought through” visa reforms which risk worsening social care labour shortages.

The TUC hit back at Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s proposals to lengthen the qualifying time to receive indefinite leave to remain from five to 15 years.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said settlement reforms “will make life even harder, more expensive, and unwelcoming for migrant care workers – and many may choose to leave or be unable to stay.”

A TUC review of official data found the social care sector has started showing signs of “a fragile recovery” following years of recruitment and retention issues.

International staff make up nearly 30 per cent of the adult social care sector in England for the 2024-2025 period, the TUC said. 

Researchers noted an improvement of the sector’s vacancy rate from its worst point in 2021-2022 at 10.5 per cent to 7 per cent in 2024-2025, marking the highest level on record with 1.6 million filled post.

But Mr Nowak said: “This progress now risks being undermined by the government’s ill-thought through visa reforms.

“Migrant care workers do valuable and essential work in our care sector. They work around the clock to provide care for our loved ones and keep the sector running.

“It’s time for an urgent rethink. Ministers should listen to unions — like they did in the prisons sector — and ensure the visa reforms work for the social care sector and its workers.

“And they should deliver a sector wide visa to reduce exploitation of care workers and ensure a flexible labour market in the care sector.”

He added that despite the need to train domestic workers for these roles, “the pressures on social care” are such that Britain “will still need skilled workers from overseas to work in the sector.”

Unison general secretary Andrea Egan joined the call, demanding “a fair pay agreement, higher standards and a sector-wide visa scheme are essential. That’s the right way to recruit and retain workers.”

GMB national secretary Rachel Harrison said: “These visa changes are profoundly harming — potentially devastating — for a care system that is already on its knees.

“Our care sector is completely dependent on migrant workers — these are the people we rely on to look after our loved ones and the government appears to be trying to make their lives harder and less secure.”