Independent Age respond to UK Government triggering Article 50
Janet Morrison, Chief Executive of Independent Age, the older people’s charity has responded to the announcement of the triggering of Article 50.
The social care workforce must not be allowed to fall victim to these Brexit negotiations. Workers from the EEA now make up the great majority of migrants coming to England to work in adult social care each year, but an estimated 90% of those EEA migrants do not have British citizenship and face an uncertain future. If the residence status of EU workers is not guaranteed, the consequences for an already-struggling care system could be severe, with older people who rely on these services likely to lose out on the support they need. In the longer term, the social care sector has to recruit more British-born workers to fill the workforce gap. We need a long-term solution on social care to ensure it can attract all the workers it needs to deliver high-quality care.
