Care home fees 'will soar' under plans to slash work visas for low-wage migrants

Running costs are expected to rise after senior Government advisers said that relying on low-paid immigrants to staff hospitals and care homes is not a ‘sensible’ long-term policy.

The landmark statement – which contrasts sharply with Labour’s dependence on overseas doctors and nurses – came from the Home Office’s Migration Advisory Committee.

Struggle: Migrants from outside the EU face a harder task filling vital roles

The MAC announced plans to cut the number of so-called ‘shortage occupation’ jobs available to non-EU migrants by around 30 per cent, to 700,000.

It will only reduce the number of migrants working here by an estimated 20,000.

But those who will find it harder to secure work permits include salaried GPs, some nurses, teachers, social workers and care home staff.

'Shortage occupation': Ballet dancer

The UK has 21,000 care homes. Many are reliant on migrant workers, with the Philippines alone claiming to supply 25,000 staff.

Many receive the minimum wage, with even senior care workers paid less than £7 per hour.

Under the new restrictions, only skilled care workers earning at least £8.80 an hour will be allowed to come to Britain – a salary level most care-home owners say they will not be able to pay.

They are warning of possible closures, or significant increases in fees. English Community Care Association chief executive Martin Green called the MAC’s plan ‘unrealistic and unworkable’.

He added: ‘The MAC have failed to understand that the care-home sector is largely publicly-funded and the funding received is simply not enough to pay £8.80 per hour in the vast majority of cases.’

A report published by the MAC said it was likely that, by restricting migrant labour, the cost of supplying public services would ‘increase’.

The document added: ‘Although we recognise that many public budgets may be fixed in the short term, in the longer run it would not be sensible to supply these important services on the basis of low-paid immigrant labour.’

The MAC, a new body led by Professor David Metcalf, said that continuing to rely on migrant labour reduced the incentives to invest in the training of UK residents.

There are around 1.6million people currently unemployed, including 500,000 18-24-year-olds.

The MAC was charged by the Home Office with reviewing the list of so-called ‘ shortage occupations’.

Migrants with qualifications for one of these posts are highly likely to secure a work permit.

MAC decided to slash the number of jobs in this category from more than a million to 700,000.

Of the current million shortage occupation posts, only 70,000 are filled by non-EU migrants.

Based on the assumption non-EU migrants will, under the new list, continue to fill 7 per cent of shortage occupation jobs, this number will reduce to around 49,000 – a fall of only 21,000.

Occupations removed from the list include salaried GPs and some hospital doctors and nurses.

Limits will also be placed on foreign teachers, with only science and maths teachers being allowed in, social workers, most skilled construction workers, IT specialists and architects.

Chefs will be allowed in, but only if they earn £8.10 an hour or more – which is likely to spark claims that Chinese and Indian restaurants will have to put up prices, or close.

Those professions which are included on the list include ship and hovercraft officers, sheep shearers, ballet dancers, jockeys and horse trainers.