On 12 May 2025 the Government published its white paper “Restoring control over the immigration system”. The paper acknowledges that, historically, domestic recruitment and retention into the adult social care sector has been affected by poor pay and terms and conditions. Efforts have been made to address this with restrictions to overseas recruitment and the anticipated introduction of the Fair Work Agency (via the Employment Rights Bill), which will fix a higher minimum wage for those working in adult social care. However, concerns about the use of the adult social care visa have led to its inclusion in the recent white paper. So why is this relevant to insurers and personal injury practitioners?
This could result in a significant reduction in the labour pool where, according to recent data published by Skills for Care in October 2024:
As a result, this could increase the cost of providing care with the need to put in place comprehensive and robust training programmes and qualifications. There will also be a requirement to provide higher salaries, more favourable terms and conditions, and a better work environment.
However, there could be some positive impacts. For one, with improved training and qualifications there should be an improvement and greater consistency in the standard and quality of care provided. There will also be an increase in the stability of the workforce and a reduction in the turnover of staff. A reliable, local workforce could then, in certain circumstances, lead to a reduction in the reliance on agency care and a move towards direct employment.
In turn, this could encourage care providers to innovate and embrace technology so as to increase efficiency, reduce the number of carers required and/or the amount of care provided.
While the short-term impact of the white paper may be to further increase the cost of care, if it forms part of a wider, more holistic review of the adult social care sector, then the Government may well be hoping to achieve more consistent, higher quality care that embraces technology and is provided in more innovative ways. It does, of course, remain to be seen whether their commitment to reducing migration is matched by their commitment to improving the delivery of social care and whether the domestic labour force can be persuaded to pursue a career in the sector.
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