The adult social care workforce will be boosted to deliver up to
45,000 extra hours of care every month through ongoing
investment.
The Adult Social Care Displaced Workers Scheme has reopened to
new applications to help expand the number of care workers,
increasing the sector's resilience and capacity to deliver
additional care each month. The initiative, which helps social
care employers to recruit international workers who are already
in the UK but are without sponsored employment through no fault
of their own, has already helped 37 employers recruit 120
workers.
First Minister said meaningful reform
requires a workforce to deliver it as he pressed the UK
Government to ensure that international recruitment into the
sector can resume.
Ahead of a visit to The Bughties care home in Dundee, where he
will meet workers recruited through the scheme, Mr
Swinney added:
We are all too familiar with the challenges facing our adult
social care sector, especially given our ageing population, and
it's why we must ensure services meet our growing demand for
care. I committed to provide an extra 45,000 hours of care each
month and we have begun to deliver that increase within the first
100 days of the new government.
UK Government decisions on immigration have inflicted pain on our
social care sector at a time when demand for care is increasing
and its choices on tax have heaped an £84 million bill on the
sector by increasing Employers' National Insurance contributions.
The Prime Minister has spoken about reforming social care
services, but meaningful reform requires a workforce to deliver
it. I urge him to reconsider and to reverse the harm done by the
UK Government over the past two years.
I am grateful to have the opportunity to hear first-hand the
positive impact our scheme has had and how we can and must
explore every option available to ensure we continue to make a
positive difference to people's lives and to a service which we
all may one day need.
Background
The Adult Social Care Displaced
Worker Scheme covers additional costs which employers
face when hiring a displaced worker already in the UK who has
lost an employer's sponsorship and where there are unfilled
vacancies. These costs will often prevent an employer from
employing them. The scheme opened on 31 July and closes on 21
August.
The figures are calculated based on a 37.5 hour week for
approximately 270 displaced workers. This allows for changes in
projected numbers whilst the necessary checks and approvals are
granted from the Home Office.
