Changes to immigration rules could lead to closure of Hertfordshire care homes, claims councillor

Liberal Democrat Cllr Chris White has warned that planned changes to immigration rules could lead ‘the likely closure of care homes’ in Hertfordshire.

Under plans announced earlier this month, overseas care workers would no longer be allowed to bring dependants with them to the UK.

And that has sparked some fears that it could reduce the number of care workers coming to the UK from overseas.

At a meeting of the full council on Tuesday (December 12), Cllr White highlighted the issue during a debate on the Autumn Statement and local government funding.

He said the decision to make it more difficult to get care workers into this country from abroad was ‘asinine’.

He said it would result in additional costs to the council as they tried to ‘rescue’ the situation – in the ‘likely closure of care homes’.

And he said the county council should be protesting against an immigration policy, that he said had nothing to do with the care sector and ‘everything to do with party politics’.

“We should be saying loud and clear that that is not just morally wrong, but it is wrong for our older people and their carers, who will suffer as a result,” he said.

Cllr White also highlighted the government’s Rwanda plan – suggesting that if the ‘money to Rwanda’ was to be split evenly around the country, there would be another £6m for services in Hertfordshire this year.

Cllr White made the remarks as councillors considered a motion on the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, proposed by Labour and amended by the Conservatives .

That motion – backed by a majority of the county council – expressed ‘concern’ at the lack of additional funding for local government in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement.

And it called on leader of the council Conservative Cllr Richard Roberts to ‘demand a significantly better deal from the Conservative government’.