Displaced workers scheme to create 45,000 extra hours of social care each month

A scheme that makes it easier to hire displaced workers in Scotland is being expanded to provide up to 45,000 extra hours of adult social care each month, ministers have announced.

The Adult Social Care Displaced Workers Scheme, which is backed by £500,000 of Scottish Government funding, helps employers recruit international workers who are already in the UK, but who have lost their sponsored employment.

The scheme covers the additional costs of hiring so-called displaced workers, which often prevent employers from taking them on.

The programme, which has reopened to new applicants, has already helped 37 employers recruit 120 workers.

First Minister John Swinney said the move “mitigates” the effects of the UK Government’s decisions to exclude dependants from visa applications in March 2024, and to close the social care visa route entirely in July last year.

Swinney said “meaningful reform requires a workforce to deliver it” as he pressed the UK Government to ensure that international recruitment into the sector can resume.

Ahead of a visit to The Bughties care home in Dundee, where he will meet workers recruited through the scheme, Swinney added: “We are all too familiar with the challenges facing our adult social care sector, especially given our ageing population, and it’s why we must ensure services meet our growing demand for care.

“UK Government decisions on immigration have inflicted pain on our social care sector at a time when demand for care is increasing and its choices on tax have heaped an £84m bill on the sector by increasing Employers’ National Insurance contributions.

“The Prime Minister has spoken about reforming social care services, but meaningful reform requires a workforce to deliver it. I urge him to reconsider and to reverse the harm done by the UK Government over the past two years.

“I am grateful to have the opportunity to hear first-hand the positive impact our scheme has had and how we can – and must – explore every option available to ensure we continue to make a positive difference to people’s lives and to a service which we all may one day need.”

The Adult Social Care Displaced Worker Scheme opened on July 31 and closes on August 21.