Current status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Neil Gray on 13 October 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to explore every avenue to support the sector and bring new care workers into social care roles in Scotland.
The UK Government’s hostile and restrictive migration policies are damaging Scotland’s health and social care sector.
In Scotland we need a migration system that works for our NHS, our social care sector, our businesses and third sector. Until we have the full powers over migration that will come with independence, we will do all we can within the devolved powers of the Scottish Parliament to mitigate the UK Government’s harmful approach to migration.
I am therefore pleased to confirm today that the Scottish Government will create a bespoke offering to help social care workers who have been displaced to come to Scotland and contribute to our care sector.
We will provide £500,000 to mitigate the devastating impact of the UK Government’s closure of the care worker visa route and provide targeted support to help displaced social care workers.
This will support international social care workers already in the UK who have lost their social care jobs as a result of their employer losing their visa sponsor licence, to come to Scotland and contribute their valuable skills to our social care sector. It is our intention for this work to begin immediately so that social care workers can settle into new jobs before Christmas.