International Recruitment Fund for the Adult Social Care Sector

1. Introduction

The government has made an investment of £15m available nationally to help support international recruitment.

We have been fortunate within the Lancashire and Cumbria system to have secured funding of £600,000 from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to support both the internal and external care workforce.

Within our Integrated Care System (ICS), Lancashire County Council is the lead banker for the funding and is working alongside the three North West sub-regions: Cheshire and Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Lancashire and Cumbria and in partnership with North West Association of Directors of Adult Social Care (NW ADASS) to develop a regional approach to administering the grant monies to Local Authorities within our system: Blackpool, Blackburn with Darwen and Cumbria.

The following guidance is available to help you explore and maximise opportunities that overseas recruitment offers:

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2. Aim

The aim of the grant monies is to support all service providers across the North West with international recruitment including access to advice, support and guidance to navigate the international recruitment processes.

There are several advantages of international recruitment some of which includes:

  • building a provider's international brand
  • developing a global expansion supply chain
  • improving productivity and enriching the workplace diversity

International recruitment candidates are dedicated professional individuals who are well qualified, skilled and knowledgeable.

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3. Criteria for funding

The funding is available to all CQC-registered providers of social care operating within Lancashire, particularly SMEs.

An SME is any organisation that has fewer than 250 employees and a turnover of less than €50 million or a balance sheet total less than €43 million.

Priority consideration will be given to funding proposals that:

  1. Utilise international recruitment to support delivery of the priorities set out in the locality market position statement
  2. Enables small and medium size (SME) providers to benefit from international recruitment.
  3. Demonstrate collaborative working across groups of providers to achieve economies of scale and knowledge transfer and/or coordinated support to recruits.
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4. Conditions of funding

All providers who are successful in securing grant funding will be required to comply with the following conditions: 

  1. The funding is used to boost international recruitment within an area. 
  2. Partnerships should comprise of local authorities and care alliances or other groups of providers. 
  3. Any recruitment activity must adhere to the Code of Practice for International Recruitment. (See section 5)
  4. The main focus of funding will be on the recruitment and employment of care workers. 
  5. Recipients of funding will be required to monitor the impact of interventions and report on progress quarterly (Dec 23, March 24 and first quarter of 24/25). See section 12 for more information, our intention is to collect reporting information via PAMMS.
  6. All successful bidding organisations will be required to sign a grant agreement with Lancashire County Council.
  7. Providers should seek to engage Ukranian, Afghan and other foreign nationals with a right to work in the region and employers to ensure that opportunities to work in the social care sector are promoted.
  8. Providers will be asked to share learning arising from implementation of proposals to support others locally.
  9. The grant funding awarded must be utilised in accordance with the proposal submitted and agreed.  Any intention to utilise funding in ways that fall outside of the proposal must be agreed in advance, in writing, by Lancashire County Council.
  10. On occasion we may contact you with requests for additional information which you are asked to co-operate with in order to enable us to learn from this project. 

Pastoral support

Alongside the above, it is imperative all providers ensure a robust induction process is developed and delivered to successful candidates. This should include dedicated pastoral support: transfers from the airport, support to find accommodation, assistance to source GP, Acute Hospitals, Dentist, local supermarkets and places of worship.

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5. Code of practice

The Department for Health and Social Care have created the 'Code of practice for the international recruitment of health and social care personnel in England'.

You can view the code of practice on GOV.UK.

This guidance is to ensure ethical international recruitment practices operate within health and social care in the UK through adherence to the Code of Practice.

The Code of Practice implements the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel. The WHO Global Code of Practice promotes voluntary principles and practices in the ethical recruitment of international health and social care personnel within member states.
 
All providers who are successful in securing grant funding will be required to comply with the Code of Practice. 

For more information see the code of practice frequently asked questions on the NHS Employers website. There is a list of questions for both employers and recruiter agencies.

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6. Job roles you can recruit for

The main focus of the support services will be on the recruitment and employment of care workers, as defined in the Conditions of Funding.

However, the interventions could also support the recruitment and employment of other adult social care staff, including nurses, occupational therapists and social workers.

This funding is available to boost international recruitment within an area, therefore, cannot be used for employees who are already sponsored.

The grant must be used for recruiting to currently vacant posts for overseas applicants and grant applications requesting back-dated claims for international recruitment activity are not permitted.

Definition of a care worker

We are guided by the Office for National Statistics ‘Standard Occupational Classification’. Care workers come under SOC code 6145, which included the following related job titles:

  • care assistant
  • care worker
  • carer
  • home care assistant
  • home carer
  • support worker (nursing home)

This is not an exhaustive list.

How you can use this funding

Examples of how funding could be deployed include (but are not limited to):

  • helping providers attract overseas candidates
  • a shared recruitment resource that looks at the whole region needs providing an advice or checking service for sponsorship licence or visa applications
  • helping new arrivals to access affordable housing
  • helping international recruits with solutions to work travel requirements, for example, helping them gain a UK driving licence
  • developing pastoral support, such as buddying schemes
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7. Safer recruitment

Each employing provider organisation is responsible for the employment of international recruits.

This includes verification of documents, contracts of employment and other standard employment checks.

This fund is to support employers who directly employ recruits and should not be used to engage candidates through a third-party agency on short term contracts for services.

For more information and resources see these guides on the Skills for Care website:

The document Safer Recruitment – Safeguarding Champions Forum (PDF 663 KB) is a useful presentation from the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board Safeguarding Champions Forum.

In this useful blog In-house international recruitment and occupational health | NHS Employers Hilary Winch of Norwich University Hospitals explains how moving international recruitment in-house has impacted occupational health.

Modern slavery – SME toolkit

STOP THE TRAFFIK and the Shiva Foundation have compiled a free toolkit to help SMEs develop appropriate precautions to prevent modern slavery from occurring in their businesses.

Further information can be found on their website SME toolkit - Stop the Traffik where you can access and download the resources.

Exploitation and organised immigration crime in the care sector

In December 2023, our North West colleagues in Greater Manchester published an area specific guide to exploitation within the care sector, supported by Programme Challenger. This guide has been produced for staff working in provider organisations, commissioning bodies, voluntary sector organisations and other public sector bodies who may come into contact with individuals working in the care sector.

The document includes hyperlinks so users can move to relevant parts of the document easily. The document is intended to provide a sufficient level of understanding of potential issues to enable individuals and organisations to:

  • Be aware of and identify potential signs of criminality and concern;
  • Know where to gather additional information from, if necessary;
  • Obtain advice and guidance or where necessary report, and;
  • Consider changes to local arrangements to safeguard against and respond to activity.

Greater Manchester guide to Exploitation and Organised Immigration Crime in the Care Sector (PDF 733 KB)

If you have any questions regarding the guide, please do not hesitate to get in touch: Sian.Payne@greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk.

ADASS letter on International Recruitment 

On 30 January 2024, the Joint Chief Executive Officers of the National Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) wrote to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and the Home Office. The letter was to share their growing concerns about the increasing evidence of exploitation and cases of modern-day slavery associated with the visa scheme to recruit international recruits into the adult social care sector. They have since received a joint response to their letter, which is linked below.

New: International recruitment toolkit for social care

This toolkit is a best practice guide, to support providers to ethically recruit care workers and senior care workers from overseas. The toolkit can be used by providers who are new to international recruitment to help support through the new processes, or by providers who are looking to refine their current international recruitment processes.

The toolkit has been written in collaboration with Skills for Care and is hosted on the Skills for Care international recruitment hub, alongside other key resources and information to support with ethical international recruitment. The Department of Health and Social Care have also worked with gov.uk to create a summary version to highlight the key messages within the toolkit - International recruitment toolkit for adult social care providers (GOV.UK).

If you have any queries regarding the toolkit, please contact ASCInternationalRecruitment@dhsc.gov.uk.

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8. Visa requirements

All international recruits will need a Health and Care Worker visa, which is a subcategory of the Skilled Worker visa.

The Health and Care Visa is a relatively new visa category created for overseas medical professionals who intend to come to the UK to work for the NHS, an NHS supplier or in the adult social care sector. This visa category was created to make it cheaper, quicker and easier for healthcare professionals to come to work in the UK. This visa type benefits from reduced visa fees and is exempt from the Immigration Health Surcharge, a saving of £624 per year per applicant.  

You can find out more on the GOV.UK website: Health and Care Worker Visa including how to apply.

To work out the cost of a UK visa application, there is an online tool to calculate visa fees on GOV.UK.

The Home Office document: Social Care: Q&A – Points-Based Immigration System (PDF 171KB) answers some common questions about recruiting from overseas.

Immigration Health Surcharge uplift and visa fees increase

On 13 July 2023, the government announced a range of changes that will be implemented in autumn 2023 when Parliament returns. There will be an increase to the cost of most work and visit visas by 15 per cent, and increasing the cost of study visas, Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS), settlement, citizenship, wider entry clearance and leave to remain visas, and priority visas by at least 20 per cent.

There will be increases to the rates of the Immigration Health Surcharge, but Health and Care Worker Visa holders remain exempt.

For more information see the NHS Employers news update: Immigration Health Surcharge uplift and visa fees increase about the government announcement.

Home Secretary’s announcement on 4 December

On Monday 4 December 2023, the Prime Minister and Home Secretary announced the plan to curb immigration abuse and cut net migration, which, alongside the package to restrict student dependants, is expected to mean around 300,000 people who would have been eligible to come to the UK under last year’s rules, will now not be able to.

Following the announcement, the estimated immigration impact assessments and a fact sheet to address FAQs have now been published. These documents set out estimates of the immigration impact of the package of measures and provide further details on the measures. These can be found at the following links:

We encourage you to refer to these documents to address any potential concerns but appreciate that there is some degree of uncertainty around certain aspects of the announcement. Please be assured that the Department for Health and Social Care have advised they are working closely with colleagues in the Home Office to confirm the details, and that they will provide more information as soon as possible.

If you have any questions in the meantime, please do not hesitate to get in touch: commissioningAgeWell@lancashire.gov.uk.

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9. Sponsorship

If you want to recruit an Adult Social Care worker from outside the UK, you will need to sponsor them and provide a Certificate of Sponsorship. This ensures: 

  1. The Home Office knows they have secured a job in the UK; and 
  2. That an employer is able to take responsibility for them while they are here.

There is national guidance from the Home Office for employers on how to apply for a licence to sponsor a person on the Worker and Temporary Worker immigration routes. It tells you about the requirements you must meet, how they consider applications, and what you can do if your application is refused.

The guidance, on the GOV.UK website, is split into three parts: 

Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS)

A Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) is necessary for migrant workers.

As a UK employer, you will need to hold a valid Sponsorship Licence to apply for the CoS for each employee you bring over.

The CoS must be applied for once the job offer has been made and includes detailed information on what your prospective employee will be doing. You must include information on their job role and expected salary on the application. If there is a discrepancy between the CoS and their actual job role, you may have your Sponsor Licence suspended.

See the page UK visa sponsorship for employers on GOV.UK for the full details regarding the process.

There is also a useful help sheet Becoming a Visa Sponsor - Help Sheet for Adult Social Care Providers (PDF 1.55MB) created by Skills for Care for providers who want to recruit an Adult Social Care worker from outside the UK.

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10. How to apply

We are no longer accepting applications for the International Recruitment fund for the Adult Social Care Sector.

The Department for Health and Social Care have advised funding for 2024-2025 is still unconfirmed, and that they will provide more information as soon as possible.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch: commissioningAgeWell@lancashire.gov.uk.

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11. Training and support

Social care training hub

The Lancashire and Cumbria funding allocation includes a training and support offer via Lancashire and South Cumbria Social Care Training Hub. This offer can be accessed by recruiting managers to support and upskill newly recruited international staff in UK Social Care Skills.

The Social Care Training Hub (SCTH) is a Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB initiative which supports adult social care organisations with staff training and workforce development. The SCTH brings together education and training resources as a ‘go to’ place for any information about workforce education and development, it supports a fully funded programme of training available to care staff who are looking after residents of Lancashire and South Cumbria. SCTH is able to work in partnership with key stakeholders to develop career pathways for social care staff through apprenticeship opportunities and offers guidance and support to all social care providers in relation to developing and retaining their staff. SCTH also works to encourage nursing students to recognise the great benefits of undertaking a social care nursing placement and we work with universities, nursing homes and students to seek placements in the care sector.

For further details please contact: mbpcc.lscsocialcare@nhs.net or visit the website: Lancashire and South Cumbria Social Care Training Hub.

Translating care skills

The Translating Care programme aims to support international staff in settling in to their UK job roles within the care sector. Delivered over 3 full days, the course is built around British values and covers topics including:

  • Key Health and Social Care Values
  • Equality and Diversity
  • Safeguarding and Protection
  • Prejudice and Discrimination and
  • Employability

On successful completion of the course, learners will gain Level 1 unit certification in Safeguarding and Protection and Prejudice and Discrimination. Discreet groups need a minimum number of 8 learners. For accreditation, learners will need English skills at Entry 3 or higher.  Evidence of this or completion of online literacy assessments will be needed prior to the start date. 

Modern slavery and human trafficking awareness training

Provided by Lancashire and South Cumbria Social Care Training Hub, this training raises awareness in the care sector of Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking and understand your role and responsibilities in tackling modern slavery.

Session Aims:

  • To understand role and responsibilities in tackling modern slavery
  • To understand how you can contribute to fighting modern slavery in the UK
  • To understand what support is available for modern slavery victims

Train the trainer sessions

In addition to the awareness training, there is also a Train the Trainer Session.

This training is with the UK Modern Slavery Training Delivery Group and the Pan Lancashire Anti Slavery Partnership (PLASP).

The sessions will be about 2 hour each and the key aims are:

  1. To raise awareness and understanding of Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking (MSHT)
  2. To spot the signs of MSHT and to understand the barriers to reporting.
  3. To discuss responsibilities around MSHT and how this fits into the wider Vulnerability Agenda.
  4. To understand what support is available for victims of MSHT.

The dates for this free training are:

Further details

Further details on this very important topic can be downloaded here:

International recruitment webinar series

The Department of Health and Social Care, in partnership with Skills for Care, put together a series of webinars on international recruitment for organisations of all sizes, who are looking to expand their workforce internationally.

There were three webinars in total, covering topics such as building a business case for international recruitment, the sponsorship licence process and how to identify a good recruitment agency.

Follow up information and access to the recordings can be downloaded here:

Webinar 3 - Recruitment and employment process (pending information from Skills for Care)

Nursing recruitment and retention toolkit webinar series

Skills for Care have created a webinar series designed for those invested in the social care nursing workforce. With input from key stakeholders, the webinars will explore best practice around the recruitment and retention of the nursing workforce, including career opportunities, the new SIfE pathway, developing learning environments and supporting early careers nurses. There are six sessions available for you to book onto, each covering a different topic or aspect of recruitment and retention for nursing in social care.

The first webinar in the series explored what works well to support a successful transition into nursing within the UK. An adult social care provider and an internationally educated nurse shared their experience of recruitment into social care.

For further information and to book your place on future webinars, please see the webinar series on the Skills for Care website.

Recruitment and Onboarding webinar

Skills for Care and DBS are working together to support social care providers in our region to ensure recruitment and on-boarding of new staff is safe and meets CQC regulations. They hosted an online session in February 2024 that covered the following:

  • Best practice in safe recruitment and how this relates to CQC regulations and quality statements
  • The value and limitations of DBS checks, including filtering rules
  • Where to find resources to support safer recruitment
  • Q&A session where you can have your questions answered

The presentation slides can be downloaded here:

International Recruitment Engagement webinar

Recipients of grant funding were invited to this webinar that focused on training, opportunities and reporting requirements for the Department for Health and Social Care, hosted by Lancashire County Council. Please see below summaries and supporting downloads for each presentation featured on the agenda.

1. Lancashire County Council – Quarterly Return form via PAMMS, Statement of Grant Usage, Qualitative Data Surveys and update regarding your final return via PAMMS scheduled in May 2024.

The presentation slides can be downloaded here:

If you have any queries, please contact commissioningAgeWell@lancashire.gov.uk

2. Lancashire and South Cumbria Social Care Training Hub – An overview of the purpose of the Training Hub and summary of current opportunities presented by Liz Williams.

The presentation slides can be downloaded here:

If you have any queries, please contact Liz.Williams29@nhs.net

3. PAN Lancashire Anti-Slavery Partnership Toolkit – Modern Slavery Overview presented by Sion Hall.

The toolkit can be downloaded here:

If you have any queries, please contact Sion.Hall@lancashire.police.uk

4. Translating Care Skills with Lancashire Adult Learning – Detail provided about the free programme to support international recruits, presented by Debs Normandy.

The presentation slides can be downloaded here:

If you have any queries, please contact Nicola.Scott@nelsongroup.ac.uk

5. Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB – Digital Social Care Record Programme. Overview of the funding available and benefits of switching to digital social care records, presented by Tabitha Sims.

The presentation slides can be downloaded here:

If you have any queries, please contact Tabitha.Sims@nhs.net

DHSC Engagement webinars

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), alongside colleagues in the Home Office, are hosting webinars to explain the changes to the health and care worker visa, and what these reforms mean for care providers who are recruiting from abroad, or considering international recruitment.

The dates for this free webinar are:

Friday 22 March
11am to 12.30pm
Book your place on Eventbrite

Wednesday 27 March
10.30am to 12pm
Book your place on Eventbrite

If you have any queries regarding the webinars, please contact ASCInternationalRecruitment@dhsc.gov.uk.

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12. Monitoring and reporting

There will be both quantitative and qualitative data used to measure the success of the programme.

Participating providers will be asked to show any available evaluation information and data. Both areas are broken down as follows:

Quantitative

  • Number of recruits appointed to and which roles. 
  • Proportion of recruited staff remaining and working in care after 3,6,12 months of appointment. 
  • Areas on which funding was spent (e.g. accommodation, transport, sponsorship fees, licences etc).
  • If funding was spent on areas not originally stated, intended, or anticipated.

Qualitative (for which a survey will be provided) 

  • Feedback from appointees on the recruitment processes and support available.
  • Feedback on manager confidence in recruiting internationally. 
  • Feedback on how providers feel they are supported throughout the year to shape the programme. 
  • Whether the goals of the individual appointee have been met.
  • Feedback from providers in relation to providing effective pastoral support. 

To support the monitoring and measurement of international workforce flows and their impact, successful bidding organisations should also ensure they record information about their recruitment activity as defined in the Code of Practice on GOV.UK. This includes: 

  • countries targeted 
  • planned and actual recruitment numbers 
  • headcount 
  • nationality
  • country of application
  • professions of international recruits in employment

We welcome any information from providers about any difficulties you experience in relation to ethical recruitment.

Important dates - reporting requirements

  • Tuesday 12 March: You will receive a broadcast email via PAMMS with a link to submit your quarterly return form.
  • Tuesday 26 March: Deadline to submit return form via PAMMS.
  • Tuesday 2 April: Statement of Grant Usage and Qualitative data surveys will be distributed via email.
  • Monday 15 April: Deadline to submit Statement of Grant Usage by email attachment.
  • Tuesday 7 May: You will receive a broadcast email via PAMMS with link to submit your final return form.
  • Tuesday 21 May: Deadline to submit return form via PAMMS and Qualitative data surveys by email attachment.

Contact

If you have any queries regarding your reporting requirements, contact us by emailing commissioningagewell@lancashire.gov.uk.