The UK government is considering closing the temporary visa scheme for care workers, which has attracted a record number of migrants in the last nine months.
The decision comes after pressure from the New Conservatives Party, a group of former Tory ministers and MPs who want to reduce net migration.
The New Conservatives, led by former Home Secretary Suella Braverman and former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, have argued that the UK cannot cope with the influx of migrants, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
They have urged the government to end the visa scheme for care workers, which they claim is being abused by people who are not genuinely needed in the health and social care sectors.
According to the Home Office, the UK’s immigration department, 143,990 health and care worker visas were issued in the year ending September 2023, more than double the 61,274 in the previous year.
The top three nationalities on these visas are Indians, Nigerians and Zimbabweans, with Nigeria having the highest percentage increase of 169 percent, followed by Zimbabwe with 76 percent and India with 76 percent.
The number of dependents granted health and care work visas also rose sharply, with Nigeria spiking by 329 percent from 10,533 to 45,203.
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The visa scheme for care workers was introduced in 2020 as a response to the shortage of health and social care staff caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
The scheme allows people from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland to work in the UK for up to six months, with a possibility of extension.
The scheme has been praised by some as a lifeline for the struggling care sector, but criticized by others as a cheap and easy way to fill the gaps without investing in training and retaining domestic workers.
The latest statistics show that net migration to the UK reached 1.279 million in the last two years, the highest level ever recorded.
This has put a strain on housing and public services and sparked concerns among some British citizens.
In a recent interview, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak admitted that net migration levels are “too high” and said the government is working on a new immigration system that will be “fair and balanced.”
He also said the government is committed to fulfilling its 2019 manifesto pledge to bring overall migration numbers down.
Net migration into the UK peaked at 745,000 in 2022, according to revised estimates published by the Office for National Statistics on Thursday.
This is three times higher than before Brexit, when the UK left the European Union in 2019. The increase is mainly driven by non-EU migrants, who accounted for 85 percent of the net migration in 2022.
The National Health Service Trusts, the bodies that run the NHS hospitals and services, have also expressed their concerns about the sustainability of relying on workers on visas to prop up social care.
They have called for a long-term plan to reform the sector, which has been underfunded and understaffed for years, while also warning that ending the visa scheme for care workers could worsen the situation unless there is a clear strategy to replace them with domestic workers.