Guidance

Support offer to international ASC workers whose employer's sponsor licence has been revoked

Published 13 March 2025

Applies to England

Background

This document outlines the purpose and scope of the regional support offer to adult social care (ASC) workers who are working in England on the Health and Care Worker visa and have been affected by their employer’s sponsor licence being revoked. It also provides contact details for each regional mailbox and signposts ASC providers towards support with recruiting from this pool of workers.

For 2024 to 2025, the international recruitment regional fund has made £16 million available to regional partnerships to set up and run support offers for international recruits to understand their rights and switch employers more easily when they have been impacted by a licence revocation.

Across every region, there is a pool of international workers already in the country who have been affected by these revocations and continue to have the right to work in the UK until their visa is officially curtailed.

We encourage all international ASC workers who have been affected by a revocation to contact their regional partnership using the details below. Providers looking to recruit should also consider this pool of workers before looking to recruit from overseas.

If you’re an international care worker affected by a sponsor licence revocation

Regional support available

If your sponsor has had their licence revoked, support is available in your local region to help you find new employment in the care sector.

This support can include:

• advice and guidance - help with understanding your visa status and employment rights
• employment support - support in finding a new employer who can sponsor your visa
• help with accessing financial support if you are struggling due to job loss or unpaid wages
• mental health and wellbeing support such as buddying schemes and help to access counselling

Who can access support

Support is available to international care workers or senior care workers in England on the Health and Care Worker visa, whose employers have had their sponsor licence revoked. Other care workers or senior care workers in England on the Health and Care Worker visa who want to find alternative employment in care can access support, but those impacted by sponsor licence revocation are currently being prioritised by regional partnerships. 

Note: this applies to England only, as adult social care is a devolved matter. If you live in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, you should refer to information from the relevant devolved administration.

How to access support

You must email the regional partnership in the area where you live. Contact details can be found in the table below.

Your email should include:

• your name
• the address you are currently living at
• your contact details
• the name of the provider sponsoring your visa

It is important that your regional contact has the correct information about you so that they can provide the best possible support without delay.

Contact your regional partnership

If you’re unsure who to contact, use the table below to identify your region based on your county or area.

Table 1: regional partnerships - who to contact if you’re a displaced international worker

Regional partnership	County or area	Contact
Cheshire and Merseyside	Cheshire East, Cheshire West, Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool City, Sefton, St Helens, Warrington, Wirral	cminternationalrecru@warrington.gov.uk
East Midlands	Derby City, Derbyshire, Leicester and Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, North Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Nottingham, Rutland, West Northamptonshire	recruitsupport@eastmidscare.co.uk
East of England	Bedford, Central Bedfordshire, Luton, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Southend, Suffolk, Thurrock, Milton Keynes, Norfolk, Peterborough	See list of contacts across the east of England
Greater Manchester	Bolton, Bury, Greater Manchester, Manchester City, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan	nhsgm.gmadviceandsupport@nhs.net
Lancashire and Cumbria	Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Lancashire, Westmorland and Furness	irsupport@lancashire.gov.uk
London North Central	Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey, Islington	london.internationalrecruits@camden.gov.uk
London North East	Barking and Dagenham, Havering, Newham, Redbridge, Waltham Forest, Tower Hamlets, Hackney, City of London	london.internationalrecruits@camden.gov.uk
London North West	Brent, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster	london.internationalrecruits@camden.gov.uk
London South East	Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark	london.internationalrecruits@camden.gov.uk
London South West	Croydon, Kingston, Merton, Richmond, Sutton, Wandsworth	london.internationalrecruits@camden.gov.uk
North East England	Cumberland, Darlington, Gateshead, Durham County Council, Hartlepool, Middlesborough, Newcastle, North Tyneside, Northumberland, Redcar and Cleveland, South Tyneside, Stockton, Sunderland	sponsored.support@durham.gov.uk
South East England	Bracknell Forest, Brighton and Hove, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Medway, Oxfordshire, Portsmouth, Reading, Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, Slough, Southampton, Surrey, West Berkshire, West Sussex, Wokingham	workforce@sesca.org.uk
South West England	Bath and North-east Somerset, Bournemouth, Bristol, Christchurch and Poole, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Isles of Scilly, North Somerset, Plymouth, Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, Torbay, Wiltshire	commissioning.swadass@swcouncils.gov.uk
West Midlands	Birmingham, City of Wolverhampton, Coventry, Dudley, Herefordshire, Sandwell, Shropshire, Solihull, Staffordshire, Stoke on Trent, Telford and Wrekin, Walsall, Warwickshire, Worcestershire	info@revoked.support
Yorkshire and Humber	Barnsley, Bradford, Calderdale, City of York, Doncaster, East Riding of York, Kingston upon Hull, Kirklees, Leeds, North Lincolnshire, North Yorkshire, North-east Lincolnshire, Rotherham, Sheffield, Wakefield	international.recruitment@adassyh.org.uk

Reporting an employer for unethical practices

If you need to report an employer for unethical or illegal business practices, you can do that through the following organisations.

Home Office

You can report any abuse of the immigration system, using the report an immigration or border crime function. This can be done anonymously.

Please ensure you provide as much detail as possible. You can upload attachments too, if needed.

Care Quality Commission

You can contact the Care Quality Commission (CQC) if you have concerns about the standards of quality and safety of care where you work.  

You can do this using the give feedback on care tool, or as a whistleblower.  

CQC’s policy on whistleblowing can be found on their website: Report a concern if you are a member of staff.

Staff concerns do not have to be restricted to people using the service. Whistleblowing can cover any risk, malpractice or wrongdoing that affects patients, the public, other staff or the provider itself.   

Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority 

The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) investigates reports of worker exploitation and illegal activity such as human trafficking, modern slavery, forced labour and illegal labour provision, as well as offences under the National Minimum Wage Act (by working with HM Revenue and Customs) and the Employment Agencies Act (by working with the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate).

If you believe you may be a victim of modern slavery or have any concerns or accusations regarding potentially unethical and illegal employment practices, you should report it to GLAA: 

• on the GLAA website
• by phoning 0800 432 0804
• by emailing contact@gla.gov.uk

Acas

Acas gives employees and employers free, impartial advice on workplace rights, rules and best practice. Acas also offer training and help to resolve disputes. Acas offers advice through: 

• the Acas website
• their helpline on 0300 123 1100 (which provides confidential free advice on any work-related problem and is open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm)

Avoiding scams

You can find advice on staying safe and avoiding scams when searching for a social care job in the UK.

You can find more information on how to spot and avoid scams, fraud and tricks, including early warning signs.

If you have been a victim of a visa or immigration scam you should report it: Report visa and immigration scams.

If you’re a provider looking to hire international care workers affected by revocations

If you have vacancies in England and you are looking to recruit international workers, please contact your relevant regional partnership from the list below.

Applications for licences and certificates of sponsorship for international recruits can be expedited free of charge when employing an international worker in this situation.

Please also refer to the toolkit of best practice, developed in collaboration with Skills for Care, to support you through the process of ethical international recruitment. All international recruitment should adhere to the code of practice.

Table 2: list of regional partnerships for providers looking to hire displaced international workers

Area or region	Contact
Cheshire and Mersey	cminternationalrecru@warrington.gov.uk
East of England	See table 3 below
East Midlands	employersupport@eastmidscare.co.uk
Greater Manchester	nhsgm.gmadviceandsupport@nhs.net
Lancashire, Westmorland and Furness	irsupport@lancashire.gov.uk
London North Central	ncl.hscacademy@camden.gov.uk
London North East	nel.irsupport@havering.gov.uk
London North West	chelwest.nwlirsub-regional@nhs.net
London South East	ir.selondon@bexley.gov.uk
London South West	internationalrecruitment@southlondonpartnership.co.uk
North East England	sponsored.support@durham.gov.uk
South East England	Complete this form
South West England	commissioning.swadass@swcouncils.gov.uk
West Midlands	hello@wmca.international
Yorkshire and Humber	international.recruitment@adassyh.org.uk

Table 3: list of east of England contacts by sub-region and area

Sub-region number	Area	Contact
1	Essex, Hertfordshire, Suffolk, Thurrock, Southend	essexsuffolkhertsir@essex.gov.uk
2	Norfolk	internationalsupport@norfolkcareassociation.org.uk
3	Milton Keynes	IWSupport@worksforus.org.uk
4	Cambridgeshire	irsupportcambs@cambridgeshire.gov.uk
5	Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire, Luton	ir.displacedworkersupport@blcb.co.uk
6	Peterborough	irsupport@peterborough.gov.uk