Memorandum submitted by Skills for Care
& Development
Skills for Care & Development (SfC&D)
is the sector skills council for employers in early years, children
and young people's services, and those working in social work
and social care for adults and children in the UK.
The work of the Committee has only recently come
to our attention as such we have been unable to consult fully
with our extensive employer networks on the particular areas posed
by the committee. SfC&D has however been working with employers
in ensuring a sector response to the current consultation by the
Migration Advisory Committee on the level of an annual limit on
economic migration to the UK and Limits On Non-EU Economic Migration
as well as with the Border and Immigration Consultation that both
close in September.
Our work to date has clearly identified that
for some employers in our sector further restrictions on the ability
to recruit from outside the EEA is of significant concern. The
following intelligence (the latest available) may be of interest:
— Recruitment of experienced social workers
from English speaking countries has been vital in addressing the
skills shortages faced by some local authorities. In 2007 around
8% of registered social workers in the UK had qualified overseas.
Analysis of data[1]
over the last four quarters suggests that more than 9% of social
workers currently in employment in the UK were born outside the
EEA.
— The Local Government Workforce Survey
2009[2]
found that 72% of respondents reported difficulty in recruiting
children's social workers and 60% reported retention difficulties.
The number reporting difficulties in recruiting adult social workers
had increased to 46% for recruitment and 28% for retention problems.
— Migrant workers form a significant proportion
of the care workforce. Overall, workers born outside the UK made
up 11.12% of our UK sector workforce in 2008-09, with about one
in 12 workers having been born outside the EEA[3]
(or an estimated 132,000 workers). Over the last four quarters
data[4]
suggests, one in six of care assistants and home carers, including
higher qualified and more experienced senior care workers, currently
working in the UK was not born here. LFS data from 2008 suggested
that this proportion could be far higher in London where competition
for skilled labour remains strong.[5]
— Demand for sector services and for workers
is growing. Simply meeting the replacement demand for workers
in our sector is a huge challenge. We estimate that the sector
needs to find or train a minimum of 60,000 qualified workers per
year simply to replace those leaving the sector due to retirement,
caring responsibilities etc.[6]
— Many employers in our sector are SMEs,
almost two thirds of businesses (60%) in our sector employ fewer
than 11 workers and 93% of establishments fewer than 50. Most
of these businesses are in the commercial or voluntary sector
(about 70% of the workforce). More than half of all third sector
employment across the UK is by organisations working within our
sector.[7]
Smaller businesses and charities, community organisations etc.
are already finding it increasingly difficult to recruit skilled
and experienced workers.
— Approximately 80% of the sector workforce
is female, with many workers as secondary earners. For example,
more than 70% of the non-EEA born workers in our sector in England
during 2008-09 were women. Given that some of these workers may
also be dependants, changes to the way dependants are considered
could have a greater impact for our sector.
Having considered this, I would strongly encourage
the House Select Committee to consult with employers within this
sector as the immigration cap holds great importance and significance
to our workforce. SfC&D would gladly facilitate such engagement
to ensure the Committee has a full and relevant awareness of the
potential impact on the ability to provide essential services
in our society.
August 2010
1 Labour Force Survey. Back
2
Local Government Workforce Survey 2009, Local Government Association,
Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) and Local Government
Employers (LGE) (September 2009). Back
3
Source: 2008-09 Labour Force Survey (LFS), Office for National
Statistics. Back
4
Labour force Survey. Back
5
State of the Adult Social Care Workforce 2010, Skills for Care
(July 2010). Back
6
UK Sector Skills Assessment for the social care, children, early
years and young people's workforces, Skills for Care & Development,
(February 2010). Back
7
Ibid. Back
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