More people than ever work in Scotland’s social services …

… and one in ten social care workers are migrants making a vital contribution

The new immigration system being proposed by the UK Government would leave Scotland’s vital social care sector critically short of staff, according to a new report. It would also damage a number of other important sectors in Scotland.

The Scottish Government’s response to the Migration Advisory Committee’s call for evidence on the UK Shortage Occupation List (SOL) highlights that the social work and residential care sectors are heavily reliant on migrants, with almost 10% of roles filled by workers from outside the UK – the majority of whom would not qualify for a visa under the so-called ‘skilled worker’ route currently being proposed by the UK Government.

Ben Macpherson, Minister for Public Finance and Migration said the remarkable contribution of non-UK citizens working in health and social care, and other sectors, has been brought into especially sharp focus during the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.

He said social care roles must now be added to the SOL, in order to prevent a labour shortage in this crucial sector.

The response shows 29,300 non-UK nationals work in health and social care.

Mr Macpherson said: “Care professionals from all over the world have played a vital role in caring for our communities during the COVID-19 crisis.

“It is mind-boggling that the UK Government has introduced a ‘Health and Care visa’, intended to show the UK’s gratitude to frontline workers in these sectors, but that this initiative bizarrely continues to exclude and disregard the huge contribution of social care workers.

“I urge the UK Government to do the right thing and include care workers as eligible for the recently announced ‘Health and Care visa’, so that people who make and have made such an important contribution to our society, particularly recently, can benefit from reduced fees, a fast-track application service, and exemption from the Immigration Health Surcharge.

“This report, responding to the Migration Advisory Committee’s call for evidence on the UK Shortage Occupation List (SOL), shows how the UK Government’s ending of freedom of movement, and no replacement general route for what they have wrongly and offensively deemed ‘lower-skilled’ migrants, will be damaging to social care provision and key Scottish sectors of the Scottish economy.

“Adding social care roles to the SOL would allow employers to recruit international workers at a lower salary threshold of £20,480, instead of the proposed £25,600.

“The Scottish Government is clear – we greatly value the skills and contributions of all people who come and settle in Scotland. Inward migration enriches our society for the better and migrants make a net contribution to our economy, our public services and our public finances. Family migration also contributes positively to our demography, and the sustainability of rural and remote communities.”

Read SG response to Migration Advisory Committee on review of Shortage Occupation List 2020

A new report published by the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) shows that more people than ever before work in Scotland’s social services. There are some 206,400 people in the workforce, which makes up approximately 7.8% of all Scottish employment or one in 13 jobs.

The figures are revealed in the Scottish Social Service Sector: Report on 2019 Workforce Data. The report highlights the size and importance of the social service workforce, which has played a vital role during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lorraine Gray, SSSC Chief Executive said: ‘The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have brought Scotland’s social service workers to the fore and this report shows the size and breadth of the sector. ‘They play a vital role in protecting and supporting some of society’s most vulnerable citizens and represent one in 13 of all employment in Scotland, so make a significant contribution to the economy too. ‘As well as being skilled and qualified roles, people must also bring the right values and we can see from the report that this is a committed workforce with just over three quarters in the same post as the previous year. ‘One of the largest increases this year was in the day care of children sub-sector, with an extra 2,360 workers, as recruitment continues towards the expansion of free early learning and childcare. Although COVID-19 has delayed this deadline we expect increased recruitment to day care of children’s service to continue.’ Key points from this year’s workforce data report The size of the workforce has increased to 206,400, a rise of 0.8% since 2018. This is the highest level recorded since these reports began. The social service workforce makes up approximately 7.8% of all Scottish employment.This increase has been driven mainly by increases to the day care of children sub-sector and with public provision. The whole time equivalent (WTE) measure of the workforce is 155,330, an increase of 1.3% since 2018. The stability index of the workforce is 76.8%. This means just over three-quarters of the workforce remained in the same post since last year. The largest employer type differs between local authority areas, with services in Orkney, Shetland and Na h-Eileanan Siar (the three island authorities) provided mainly by the public sector. However, in most areas the private sector is the largest employer. The three largest sub-sectors are housing support/care at home, care homes for adults and day care of children; together these account for almost 78% of the workforce. The median age of the workforce is highest in the public sector (47) and lowest in the private sector (41). Early years workers in the private sector have the lowest median age (28). The percentage of men working in the sector is 15%, although it is around double or greater that proportion in criminal justice and residential children’s services. The workforce is mainly employed on permanent contracts (82%). The median figure for the typical weekly hours worked by staff is 32 and 51% of the workforce work full time (more than 30 hours per week). The report combines administrative data collected by the Care Inspectorate with data collected by the SSSC directly from local authorities to form a comprehensive picture of the paid workforce employed in the social service sector in Scotland at the end of 2019. The SSSC is an official statistics provider. Read the Scottish Social Service Sector: Report on 2019 Workforce Data here.