News and Resources
- ***URGENT and IMPORTANT FSA ADVICE RELATING TO FOOD SAFETY IN CARE SERVICES***
Please see attached important information urging providers to check their supplies. The FSA and UKHSA have been following up on a Listeria outbreak in late 2024.Investigation has traced the outbreak to some mousse puddings, that we understand are used in the NHS and some care settings. The attached note is from FSA, setting out the background, state of play, and some relevant instructions. Care providers should:
- Withdraw from food service and sale all desserts at health care settings (regardless of the brand name), manufactured at B. & A. Susca Limited, Pine Street, Off Bennett Street, Hyde, Cheshire, SK14 4TG. This is a precautionary action whilst investigations are ongoing.
- Place on hold/quarantine desserts removed from service/sale, until further advice is provided by the Local Authority and the Food Standards Agency. Disposal is not required.
Other Cool Delight brand desserts not from this manufacturing site are not affected. If you are unsure if the Cool Delights products were manufactured by the site listed above, place the products on hold, and contact your supplier to confirm where they were manufactured.
- We would like to share the following announcement direct from the DHSC and in their own words, regarding international recruitment:
‘The Government has announced new rules meaning providers in England will have to prioritise recruiting care workers already in the UK who need new sponsorship before hiring internationally. The Home Office has also announced the updated salary thresholds for the Health and Care visas. The full statement is available here: Written statements – Written questions, answers and statements – UK Parliament
Changes to relating to international recruitment of care workers
International recruitment plays a valuable role in our adult social care workforce. However, with increases in international recruitment, [the DHSC states it has seen] unacceptable increases in unethical practices and the exploitation of international recruits in the adult social care sector. Providers found to be unethical in their practices are rightly having their licence to sponsor international recruits revoked. This has led to a significant number of dedicated adult social care workers who have been displaced from their original employer and potentially left without work, through no fault of their own.
Significant work has been ongoing across government, in collaboration with the care sector, to ensure high standards across the immigration system. £16m has been provided to regional partnerships this financial year to support them to prevent and respond to unethical international recruitment practices in the sector. This includes support for international recruits to understand their employment rights and to support individuals to switch employers and remain working in the care sector when they have been impacted by their sponsor’s license being revoked. In addition, the Home Office has recently announced first steps to deliver on the manifesto commitment to ban rogue employers from sponsoring overseas workers.
From 9th April, care providers in England who wish to recruit a new worker from overseas, or those switching from another visa route, will have to first prove that they have attempted to recruit a worker from within the UK who is already in the route and needs new sponsorship. This ensures that those who came to the UK to pursue a career in adult social care can do so.
Providers will need to work with the relevant regional partnership in the area they are located, or recruiting, and attempt to recruit from a pool of workers impacted by revocation before they can sponsor a care worker or senior care worker from another route or from overseas. A list of regional partnership contact details is attached above and will be published on Gov.UK shortly, we will share this link with you once it is live.
The new rules will not apply to international workers who are already being sponsored as a care worker (SOC 6135) or senior care worker (SOC 6136) or where providers are seeking to sponsor someone switching from another immigration route who has already been working for them for at least three months. This means providers can continue to renew sponsorship of their existing care workers in the normal way and care workers can continue to switch sponsors.
Salary threshold
The Home Office has announced an increase to the minimum salary threshold for care workers and senior care workers from £23,200 to £25,000 or £12.82 per hour, whichever is higher. It is standard practice to update this and other salary requirements across work visa routes each year, this ensures these salary requirements continue to reflect the latest pay situation for UK workers.
The full statement of changes is available here: Immigration Rules: statement of changes – GOV.UK’
Events
RCPA Members’ Network Meeting via TEAMs
Tuesday 18th March at 2pm
Please find the meeting link below –
Microsoft Teams Need help?
Meeting ID: 319 134 990 459
Passcode: QRySBN
Please see agenda:
- At the meeting we will be joined by:
- Martin Taylor, Senior Team Leader, Find a Job, Strategic Relationship Team, Department for Work and Pensions. Martin will give a short presentation on ‘Benefits of using Find a Job service’.
- Jo Ashton, founder, and director of Optimise Workplace Wellbeing and RCPA sponsor. Jo will give a short presentation around the importance of wellbeing and resilience in the workplace amidst the current sector challenges.
- Please see letter from Mel Lock, Somerset Council in response to the RCPA letter sent 4th March, received over the weekend.
- Lobbying activity.
- Low pay commission road show (NLW impact).
- AOB
