Andy Burnham has hinted that foreign care workers could be exempt from immigration reforms, paying tribute to the overseas staff who care for his father Roy, who has Alzheimer's.
The Prime Minister said he wanted to ensure "fairness" in the rules for people who came to the UK in good faith to work in the social care sector, in his clearest signal yet that he could water down a visa crackdown drawn up by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.
Retrospective rules spark backlash
Under the plans, overseas carers would have to wait 15 years to qualify for indefinite leave to remain, up from five years, even if they are already in the UK. The idea of applying the rules retrospectively to people who arrived on post-Brexit health and social care visas triggered a major backlash.
Housing Secretary Angela Rayner, a former carer, publicly criticised the idea, while unions and care organisations have warned that the sector is heavily dependent on international workers and the changes could worsen chronic staff shortages.
Burnham's tribute to care workers
Mr Burnham used a major speech on fixing social care this week to pay tribute to the overseas workers who look after his dad Roy. Asked if he was looking at how the reforms applied to care staff, he told the Sunday Mirror: "I wanted to mention people who've come from overseas to work in our care system and in our health system as well. I see it in the social care system because of the times I visit my Dad."
He added: "I don't think they hear people like me sometimes recognising the fact that they have come all this way and they are contributing so much. It felt right in that moment to recognise them specifically, as well as obviously care workers more broadly."
"It's a challenging thing to do isn't it, to look after someone else's mum and dad. To me, it's like the highest calling you could answer. It's an amazing thing that they do that, and it's just not right is it that people who, in my view, should be the highest paid really in society get treated as they do."
Fairness pledge
"That's why social care is such as priority for me. But also, I do want to make sure we get fairness in the rules in relation to people who came here in good faith, and made a commitment, I will make sure that we do that."
Pressed on whether he was looking at applying the rules retrospectively, he said: "There's a range of issues. Obviously, it's a sponsorship issue that caused some overseas care workers difficulties and there is an issue around indefinite leave to remain. There's other issues as well."
"What I'm saying is we have to have a firm approach to immigration. We have to ensure that we're managing access to public services properly, but at the same time, we also need to be fair and recognise the commitment people are making to this country."
Home Office review
The Prime Minister has backed Ms Mahmood's immigration reforms and kept her in post when he reshuffled his Cabinet. She has argued that migrants must earn the right to permanently settle in the country, and the Government previously said some 1.6 million people would get an automatic right to settle in the UK by 2030 unless the rules are changed retrospectively.
The Home Office has consulted on whether there should be transitional arrangements for people who are already living in Britain, with a decision expected to be announced in the autumn.
