How reliant is the care sector on foreign workers?published at 17:34 GMT

17:34 GMT

By Nicholas Barrett

Foreign workers make up a third of staff in the independent care sector in England, according to figures from charity Skills For Care.

A total of 6% of care workers were from EU countries in 2025/26, while 27% were from non-EU countries, including Nigeria, India and Zimbabwe.

The King’s Fund, a health think tank, recorded nearly 1.7 million roles in the adult care sector in the same period, around 96,000 of which were vacant.

This was despite a "substantial increase" in international recruitment in the sector. It said the latest vacancy rate is 6.1%, which is down from a high of 10.2% in 2022.

Skills for Care also recorded a lower turnover rate among foreign care workers than those recruited in the UK.

Ben Brindle, from the Oxford Migration Observatory think tank, told BBC Verify: "The care sector has struggled to attract UK workers because of its relatively poor pay and working conditions.”

But he added that while care wages were relatively low by UK standards, “they can still be attractive to migrants compared with what they could earn in their home countries”.

Retrospective nature of Mahmood's reforms has not changedpublished at 17:15 GMT

17:15 GMT

Jack Fenwick
Political correspondent

The watering down of these plans comes after months of pressure from some Labour MPs including Angela Rayner.

There were two aspects of the plans that they were most unhappy with.

Rayner had said the retrospective nature of the plans was "un-British" and amounted to changing "the goalposts".

She and others had also criticised the impact on social care workers, who under the old plans would have had to wait 15 years for settlement.

Image source, House of Commons

The most significant change in the updated plans has come on social care workers – those who came to the UK before May 2025 and earn £25,000 a year will now be able to get settlement after five years.

But the retrospective nature hasn't shifted – many people who came to the UK expecting to qualify for settlement after five years will now have to wait 10 years.

People inside the Home Office will be keenly looking at how Labour MPs react to that element.

But the early evidence from inside the House of Commons chamber suggests that levels of anger are not that high.

Backbenchers including Diane Abbott, John McDonnell and Stella Creasy have all raised potential concerns, but all chose to largely pull their rhetorical punches.

Rayner was in the House of Commons earlier and didn’t stick around for the home secretary’s statement, but I'm told we shouldn’t read too much into that.

Image source, PA Media

While Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood was outlining her immigration plans in the Commons, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage held a press conference.

Farage says his party has consistently said indefinite leave to remain (ILR) after five years in the UK "is not a right" and is being abused by people on benefits.

He then accuses Mahmood of following the Reform line, and says she "kicked the can down the road" for the next five years instead of removing ILR entirely.

Farage says Mahmood's initial reform proposals were "tough", but calls today's announcement a "capitulation".

He describes the announcement as a "very major U-turn" that will cost the country "a vast amount of money".

The Reform leader says his party would review the status of anybody granted ILR and citizenship under the changes announced today and analyse whether they benefit the British economy.

Changes spare 282,000 people from delayed settlementpublished at 17:00 GMT

17:00 GMT

Jack Fenwick
Political correspondent

We’re already seeing the battle over how this announcement is framed playing out.

Ministers in the Labour government will say these are tough new rules that go further than any previous government.

The Conservatives will say this is a watering down of the even stricter plans announced by Shabana Mahmood last year.

I’m told that under the original version of the plans, 799,000 people would have had their settlement delayed.

Under the updated version announced today, that figure will now drop to 517,000.

Joe Coughlan
Live reporter

Image source, House of Commons

Setting out her plans for migration in the Commons, Shabana Mahmood has said migrant care workers who earn at least £25,000 and arrived in the UK before May 2025 will be eligible for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) after five years.

• The home secretary also said those in the social care sector who have not fulfilled the conditions of their visa will be offered a "second chance" by applying for another five-year visa if they arrived before May 2025

• A five-year path to settlement will remain open to workers on a salary of more than £50,000 a year and those who have made contributions in healthcare and education, as well as refugees who come to the UK via safe and legal routes
• She says those making "exceptional" contributions, such as taxpayers in the highest band who earn more than £125,000, can apply for settlement after three years

• Announcing a policy "guided above all by fairness", Mahmood said those who do not come under the new exceptions will now be on a 10-year path to settlement status, including those earning less than £50,000

• She also set out the government’s disqualifying criteria for settlement, including having a criminal record and failing to speak English to a high standard – with those committing an immigration breach having their wait pushed back to 20 years

• Those who arrived in the country by small boat and are in work or study will have to wait 20 years for settlement, with a further 10 years for those who have not entered work or study

MPs are continuing to ask the home secretary questions about her planned reforms - stick with us as we bring you more updates from the Commons.

Harry Farley
Political correspondent

The changes to settled status will not require a vote in the House of Commons, government sources have told the BBC.

The Home Office believes the changes announced today can be made through a statement of changes to the immigration rules and will not need new legislation.

Labour MP Meg Hillier asks Mahmood about English language requirements under the new scheme.

She says there are many people settled in the UK already, and many who arrive as spouses, without good English.

Hillier therefore calls it a "very gendered issue" as women can become trapped because they don't have access to English learning.

She asks Mahmood if she is making sure better English teaching will be made available to avoid the issue of women becoming trapped.

The home secretary replies that the government has raised the English level expected of incoming migrants and stresses a "good standard of English" is critical to the ability of people to integrate into the country.

It's now the turn of Liberal Democrat spokesperson Max Wilkinson to speak in the Commons.

He says Labour's immigration reforms are "unravelling" by "prioritising tough rhetoric" over a system that works.

Immigration reform must not only prevent small boat crossings, Wilkinson says, but also serve the UK's economy and public services.

He then asks Mahmood if she will publish the "full economic benefits" of the changes she is proposing.

Wilkinson finishes by asking the home secretary why "so many of her backbenchers disagree with her" on immigration and why she "disagrees so strongly" with the prime minister on the UK having a closer relationship to the EU.

Mahmood responds by saying she won't engage with political rhetoric and that her reforms are fair.

She says the settlement recognises the exceptional nature of care workers and that the Lib Dems should applaud that a proper consultation was carried out.

Image source, Getty Images

As Mahmood made her statement in the Commons, we received a press release outlining her planned immigration reforms.

In the release, Prime Minister Andy Burnham says "it is only fair that those who are making the most valuable contribution to our communities are given the opportunity to settle earlier".

"Those in other roles should expect to wait longer while people who abuse the system or arrive illegally will be refused or will also have to wait longer," he says.

He added: "People want to see an immigration system based on control, contribution, and which rewards those who play by the rules.

"These proposals are based on that principle and recognise the contribution made by overseas workers to our country.

"Following Brexit, the previous government lost control of immigration, with an unprecedented spike in numbers. This Home Secretary is gripping this problem, and she has my full support in doing so."

Image source, House of Commons

Back on her feet in the Commons, Mahmood calls Philp's response an "affront".

Given the muted response on the benches behind him, she says, the Tories clearly still remember what happened to immigration under their watch.

She demands an apology for their "abject track record" and says the current Labour government has cut net migration by 82% and found a "fair solution" to immigration reform.

The home secretary says that under her new measures, the cohort of legal migrants most likely to impose a cost will now wait longer for settlement. This will "save billions in the benefits bill", she adds, citing the Department for Work and Pensions.

She repeats this is a "fair solution" to "clean up the mess" left behind by the Tories.

The home secretary concludes by accusing Philp of only having political rhetoric, and that she has nothing more to say to him.

Now it is the turn of backbench MPs to ask questions in the Commons, stay with us.

We've just heard Mahmood's announcement that government is scrapping plans for migrant care workers already in the UK to wait 15 years for settlement.

Under her proposals, here's a closer look at the timeline for legal migrants to permanently settle in the UK:

• Three years: those earning over £125,141 and highly skilled migrants who are on routes such as the Global Talent and Innovator Founder
• Five years: those paying higher rates of tax with a salary of over £50,271 and skilled public service workers such as doctors, nurses and teachers, refugees arriving on safe and legal routes
• Ten years: this is now the new standard route for all other migrants, as well as refugees who move into work and study
• Twenty years: those who claim certain benefits while in the UK or commit a visa offence, as well as refugees who arrive on a small boat and enter work or study
• Thirty years: refugees who arrive on a small boat and do not enter work or study

Philp then accuses the home secretary of losing the support of her party, after facing challenges to her immigration reform proposals from Housing Secretary Angela Rayner and Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh.

Afterwards, Philp says the Conservatives would go much further, and would therefore vote for Mahmood's previous plans.

Instead of relying on "mass low-skilled immigration", he calls for the government to look to use the million young people not in education or employment (Neets) by toughening the welfare system.

"If she capitulates to the open borders Left, her credibility as home secretary will not recover," he adds.

Image source, House of Commons

Giving his response, shadow home secretary Chris Philp says it took Mahmood a year to "build her reputation as tough on immigration", but she has just dismantled this reputation in "12 short minutes".

He also criticises Mahmood for changing her position on immigration, particularly when it comes to the social care sector.

Philp goes on to describe the announcement as "a U-turn" and claims it would cost the taxpayer £10bn.

Chris Mason
Political editor

The reaction to the government’s initial proposals was huge.

In the documents published alongside the Home Secretary’s statement, we are told that the "consultation received 204,667 responses online and 904 responses over email".

"Of these, 202,241 responses were submitted by individuals, of which nearly three quarters (73%) were current visa holders and a further 18% were British Citizens."

Given the scale of the response to the initial plans, what did those who responded to the consultation say?

The government says:

"Most respondents disagreed with the proposed changes to the settlement framework (84% of individuals and 79% of organisations). Disagreement was higher among individuals with refugee status or humanitarian protection (89%) and current visa holders (86%) than among British Citizens (77%)."

Some of the most common themes "were the perceived unfairness of the proposed changes, particularly for those already on a path to settlement," it adds.

Image source, House of Commons

Mahmood wraps up by saying earned settlement represents a "new paradigm" in the country's migration system which is "long overdue".

"The right to live in this country must now be earned, it will no longer be automatic," she says.

She calls it a "fair settlement for all" and ends her speech.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood moves on to address settlement rights for refugees.

"I know the people of this country wish to continue welcoming genuine refugees," she says, but adds that "there is nothing fair" about permitting unsafe and illegal entry into the UK.

As a result, Mahmood says refugees who come to the UK via safe and legal routes will be placed on a five-year path to settlement - as fast a path as higher earners entering the UK today.

At the same time, the government hopes to discourage illegal crossings by making the disqualifying period for settlement 20 years, including for those who are in work or study.

A further 10 years will be added for people who enter the country by small boat and do not enter work or study.

"These reforms are the right thing to do both morally and financially," Mahmood tells the Commons, and says a full impact assessment will be completed as the reforms are implemented.

Mahmood says there are "tens of thousands" of legitimate vacancies in the care sector, so those who seek a new job in the industry and have the relevant skills "should be able to find one".

"Everyone will have a fair shot to make their contribution," she says.

"But we will preserve the critical element of this reform that settlement must be linked to contribution."

The same rules will apply to public sector workers in roles such as education and healthcare, the home secretary adds.

This arrangement applies only to those who came to the UK before May 2025.

Image source, House of Commons

Mahmood says that during the government's consultations on proposed immigration changes, many people brought up social care workers.

She says 250,000 people and their dependants arrived or switched into the social care route between 2022 and 2025.

The home secretary adds that this came at a time when the sector was under considerable pressure following the Covid-19 pandemic, but says the route was "abused" and that the last Conservative Government "lost control" of the country's borders.

She says the government's solution works in two ways, first by providing a five-year path to settlement for care workers who lived up to the promise they made to the country, joined the social care route before May 2025 and earn £25,000 a year working in social care.

She says the second group of people, who have not fulfilled the conditions of their visa, will be offered a "second chance" by applying for another five-year visa.

"Everyone will have a fair shot to make a contribution and no one will be punished for the sins of their employer," she says.

The home secretary continues to provide more detail around her proposed immigration rule changes.

She explains that people who are not captured by the new exceptions will now be on a 10-year path to settlement status, including those earning less than £50,000.

Mahmood says this means settlement will still be available, but these applicants "will simply have to show a sustained contribution" to the country and will be able to renew existing temporary visas until that point.

If a person commits an immigration breach, they will see the wait for settlement pushed back to 20 years, she adds.

The home secretary says that a number of groups will see their settlement path remain as it is today - including Hong Kong British nationals overseas, armed forces members, people with a British connection and those with legacy routes, for instance Windrush.

Faster routes will be available for those who make "exceptional" contributions, the home secretary continues.

She says taxpayers in the highest band who earn more than £125,000 will end up paying £1.5m in tax over their lifetime.

This money is used to fund critical services "that many, including the poorest in the country, rely on", Mahmood says.

As a result of this contribution, people in this group can apply for settlement after three years, she adds.