EDINBURGH — Scotland’s Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes has issued a stark warning that the UK government’s proposed immigration reforms will have a damaging impact on the country’s already strained care system.
Speaking on BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland, Forbes said she was left in “absolute astonishment” by Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s plan to cut the recruitment of overseas care workers and tighten English language requirements across all visa routes. She said there was “no doubt whatsoever” that the changes would exacerbate staffing shortages in Scotland’s care sector.
“For those working in the sector, these proposals are baffling,” Forbes said. “Scotland faces significant demographic challenges, and across public services and private sectors, the ability to recruit workers is among the most urgent issues.”
The Labour government’s 82-page white paper on immigration reform includes a series of tough new measures aimed at reducing net migration. Among them are plans to:
End overseas recruitment for care sector visas,
Require all skilled workers to hold a university degree,
Raise English language proficiency standards for all applicants, including adult dependents,
Extend the residency period required before applying for citizenship from five to ten years — though “high-contributing” individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked.
Starmer defended the reforms, saying net migration had “quadrupled” under the previous Conservative government, reaching a record high of nearly one million in 2023. “That’s not control, it’s chaos,” he said at a press conference.
But care providers across Scotland are sounding the alarm.
Robert Kilgour, chair of Renaissance Care, which operates 19 care homes across Scotland, called the proposals a “killer blow” to the sector. He said a third of the company’s 1,500 staff are from overseas and warned that without them, operations would grind to a halt.
“More care homes will close because of this,” Kilgour said. “It’ll lead to more bed-blocking, more cancelled operations, and longer NHS waiting lists. They’re shooting themselves in both feet.”
Campbell Mair, managing director of Highland Home Carers, echoed the concern, noting that “retention and recruitment” of UK workers was already a serious challenge. He warned that any further reduction in workforce capacity would have “very significant” consequences for vulnerable adults and their families.
The proposed immigration changes come as Scotland grapples with an ageing population. With deaths outnumbering births, the country increasingly relies on migrants to maintain its workforce and support vital services such as healthcare and social care.
Despite immigration policy being reserved to Westminster, the Scottish Government has long advocated for a more flexible, tailored approach. Forbes reiterated calls for a bespoke “Scottish visa” to help meet Scotland’s specific demographic and economic needs — an idea previously rejected by the UK government.
“We’ve shared this proposal with the UK government,” she said. “It’s essential that we have a distinct system that works for our population of just over five million.”
The SNP has renewed its push for immigration powers to be devolved, with MP Stephen Gethins tabling a bill in Westminster that would amend the Scotland Act 1998 to allow Holyrood to create a separate Scottish visa scheme.
While Labour is unlikely to back the proposal, a precedent exists. The former Labour government under Tony Blair introduced the Fresh Talent initiative in 2005, allowing international students graduating from Scottish universities to stay and work in Scotland for two years before applying for longer-term visas.
First Minister John Swinney criticized the Prime Minister for using “divisive language” and accused him of “playing into the hands” of Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader who has built a platform on sharply reducing immigration.
“The Prime Minister’s statement will damage our economy, the NHS, social care and our universities,” Swinney said on X (formerly Twitter). “It ignores the need to boost Scotland’s working-age population.”
While parties at Holyrood have historically maintained a broad consensus that immigration benefits Scotland’s economy and society, that agreement may come under strain. The Scottish Conservatives now support ending care worker visas, and Scottish Labour has suggested that the Scottish Government should focus more on making care jobs attractive to residents already living in the country.
With public pressure mounting and Reform UK gaining traction in national polls, the immigration debate is increasingly shaping up to be a defining political fault line — in both Westminster and Holyrood.
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