Marking the one-year anniversary of the referendum on leaving the European Union, Simon Bottery, Director of Policy at Independent Age, the older people’s charity said:
“A year on from the Brexit referendum, there is still huge uncertainty among thousands of migrant workers in social care about whether they will be able to continue to work in the UK after we leave the European Union. Around 84,000 people in the adult social care workforce are from the EEA and the great majority do not have an automatic right to remain in the UK. With high vacancy rates in the care sector, the future of these workers must be secured as a priority. The UK must then develop an immigration policy that reflect the needs of older and disabled people who rely on social care while also increasing the attractiveness of the social care sector to British workers through improved career development pathways, higher wages and better working conditions.”