THE care sector cannot function without a migrant workforce, Unison warned today after figures showed the number of people coming to Britain on a health and care visa is more than five times higher than when the route was introduced three years ago.

Taking into account dependants, the figure for 2023 rose to a total of 349,929 from 146,477 successful applications.

This is up from 157,636 in 2022 and 63,291 in 2021, the Home Office figures said.