International recruitment fund for the adult social care sector: guidance for local authorities
Updated 17 March 2023
Applies to England
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Introduction
Government can confirm that it is making £15 million available over 2023 to 2024 to help support international recruitment within the adult social care sector.
The government is committed to helping providers make more effective use of international recruitment to help grow the adult social care workforce, alongside wider action to improve domestic recruitment and retention.
On 15 February 2022, care workers were added to the shortage occupation list to support providers in addressing workforce pressures. This inclusion is enabling the sector to employ overseas recruits to help provide care this winter and beyond.
Although international recruitment has the potential to fill thousands of vacancies, we recognise that many providers find it difficult and experience a number of different barriers. This fund is being established to provide employers with a range of support mechanisms so that they are able to take advantage of the benefits presented by international recruitment. It is also designed to help ensure an ethical approach to recruitment and employment practice and that international recruits are provided with a range of support to help them make an effective transition to working in England.
Aim
This fund is being established to enable a support offer to be set up at regional or sub-regional level which can be made available to all providers within the area.
We have worked with the sector to identify some of the main barriers to international recruitment. These include administrative complexity and costs but also challenges with issues like pastoral support, housing and travel.
Our aim is to promote collaborative arrangements which reduce administrative complexity and burden, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) providers. For example, the local support arrangements may offer providers help with identifying overseas candidates, completing sponsorship licence and visa applications, onboarding and ongoing support for international recruits.
This grant will enable partners within a given area to develop shared solutions to local challenges and strengthen safeguards against exploitation.
Conditions
We are using a section 31 mechanism to pay the grant which means that applicants must identify a lead local authority able to receive the grant on behalf of their partnership of local authorities and care alliances and providers. The conditions for partnerships accessing the grant are as follows:
- partnerships should consist of local authorities and care alliances or other groupings of local providers
- partnerships should cover a region or a subregion and make sure that the services offered through the partnership are available to all adult social care providers within that area
- the services offered through the partnership should aim to boost international recruitment for the local area
- participation in the partnership should ensure that all partners are engaged in the decision-making process, ensuring the grant money is spent in a way that adds value to the partners
- the services offered through the partnership will help ensure ethical recruitment and employment practice
- any recruitment activity supported by the partnership must adhere to the code of practice for international recruitment
- the main focus of the support services will be on the recruitment and employment of care workers. However, the interventions could also support the recruitment and employment of other adult social care staff, including nurses, occupational therapists and social workers
- partnerships will monitor the impact of the interventions and provide information to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to help evaluate the impact of the fund through a light touch quarterly return. The grant funding can be used in part to support local monitoring and evaluation
- partnerships should consider opportunities for working with the NHS to share good practice, for instance in relation to pastoral support. In some areas, it may work well to discuss these issues at the people board of the integrated care system (ICS)
- partnerships should engage Ukrainian, Afghan and other foreign nationals with a right to work in the region and employers to ensure that opportunities to work in the adult social care sector are promoted
- partnerships should consider how to spread existing good practice, as well as develop new innovative solutions
- grant expenditure should be focused on shared solutions that are available to all providers within the footprint of the partnership
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
Process
DHSC intends to distribute the grant through a lead local authority which will act on behalf of all the local authorities in the partnership and in collaboration with local care alliances and local providers.
The lead local authority will work collaboratively to develop an application which sets out in broad terms how the partnership proposes to address the needs and priorities of providers in their area. This initial plan will set out approaches to facilitate and boost international recruitment in the adult social care sector. There will also be a strong focus on promoting ethical recruitment and employment practice. We understand that the partnership will want to develop this initial plan further in the first months of the scheme.
The lead local authority should ensure that the application reflects a consensus view across the collaborating partners. The grant application form with accompanying notes to assist completion is on the International recruitment fund for the adult social care sector page.
DHSC has worked closely with the Local Government Association, Association for Directors of Adult Social Care Services, Skills for Care and the Care Provider Alliance to develop the fund.
Key timings for 2022 to 2023 funding
| Action | Date |
|---|---|
| Launch of the fund | 10 February 2023 |
| Deadline for submission of bids to access funding | 24 February 2023 |
| Deadline for evaluation of bids that draw on funds | 3 March 2023 |
| Payments approved | 6 to 17 March 2023 |
Key timings for 2023 to 2024 funding
| Action | Date |
|---|---|
| Deadline for submission of bids accessing funding | 17 March 2023 |
| Deadline for evaluation of bids that draw on funds | 24 March 2023 |
| Payments approved | 6 to 10 April 2023 |
Funding
Partnerships should base the requested amount of funding in their applications on the indicative local authority funding shares listed in Annex A. The indicative allocations represent a maximum annual amount and applicants should only bid for the amount of funding they are confident of being able to spend by the end of the respective financial years.
Indicative shares have been based on the number of:
- registered care home beds in locations within the local authority area, using the Care Quality Commission (CQC) register with filters published on 1 November 2022
- home care users declared by registered providers based within the local authority area, using the average of weekly responses to the DHSC Capacity Tracker during October 2022
This approach and these sources have been based on the precedent of the Infection Control Fund Round 3 in 2021, as the metrics were identified as proxies for care needs and therefore workforce capacity needs.
Good examples of support services
There are many positive examples of good practice, which highlight often simple ways of supporting care workers from overseas to settle successfully. Some of the examples and learning come from the NHS which has longer experience of international recruitment.
This part of the guidance provides applicants with some suggestions about the types of support arrangement local areas might seek to put in place. Local partnerships will have flexibility, subject to meeting the grant conditions, to use the funding to reflect local needs, and these practice examples should not be seen as prescriptive.
Please engage with the care sector in your area to ensure that the voices of different types of providers have the opportunity to contribute views.
Examples of support services that regions might want to develop with the allocation from this grant include the following.
Shared recruitment activities
There are examples where partnerships have created a shared job board, making it easier to reach people who want to apply from abroad.
Ethical recruitment
It’s important that all international recruitment adheres to the code of practice. Support could include advice for providers about the code of practice and how to use ethical recruitment agencies. It could also be focused on providing safeguards for employees.
Licence or visa applications and pre-employment checks
The licence or visa application process can be perceived as burdensome. A shared resource could ensure economies of scale and increase local expertise.
Travel to the UK
New care workers will need to book flights and transfer their belongings. There are examples that show how a joined-up approach can ease the burden on providers.
Affordable accommodation
This is particularly important to international recruits because of the overall shortage of accommodation and the difficulty of accessing it as a new arrival to the UK with no domestic credit history. Examples include providing temporary accommodation at scale or support with finding flat shares.
Onboarding and induction support
We know that best practice is to collect new international recruits from the airport, introduce them to the local area and accompany them on their first day to their new home. We understand that this can feel burdensome for some providers and we have identified examples of how local partners have come together to provide a joined-up approach. When this is done collaboratively, it can include helping new arrivals to set up a bank account, register with a GP and enrol children in local schools.
Travel within the UK
It is important for care workers to understand how to navigate the local transport hubs. In some cases, especially in domiciliary care, care workers will need to travel to service users’ homes or other care settings. Examples of support include a joint approach to helping care workers acquire UK driving licences or cycle to work schemes.
Pastoral support
It’s important that new arrivals in the UK are supported and feel welcomed. Examples include joining up to offer access to support networks, peer support, buddying and training and learning opportunities.
Annex A: indicative allocations
Please note that the indicative amounts for each region show the maximum allocation available for each of the financial years 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024.
| Region | Share |
|---|---|
| North East | £820,000 |
| North West | £2,050,000 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | £1,380,000 |
| West Midlands | £1,620,000 |
| East Midlands | £1,640,000 |
| South East | £2,540,000 |
| East of England | £1,650,000 |
| London | £1,710,000 |
| South West | £1,580,000 |