Reform argues that the policy, which would apply UK-wide, is intended to push organisations into taking on British employees. But thinktanks and professional groups in health, care and education said these were very often not available in sufficient numbers.<\/p>\n
The King\u2019s Fund, a leading health thinktank, said that while it was unclear how much employers would have to pay \u2013 Reform has said only that the levy will be higher for lower-paid staff \u2013 with 20% of NHS England staff not being UK nationals the policy would \u201cadd costs to a service that is already stretched\u201d.<\/p>\n
Suzie Bailey, from the King\u2019s Fund, said: \u201cI think, ultimately, it would impact on the care that the service is able to give, because that money would have to come from somewhere, so other cuts would have to be made.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is very hard to see how this would do anything other than impact on healthcare. I really struggle to see how this would work in practice, and that it wouldn\u2019t just have negative impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prof Victoria Tzortziou Brown, the president of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said moves to penalise overseas GPs risked being especially counter-productive given they would have undertaken specialist training in the UK at public expense.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cGeneral practices, most of which are small-scale independent services contracted to deliver NHS services, could also be disproportionately affected by policies that increase the cost of employing staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny policy that further increases costs or reduces workforce capacity ultimately risks affecting patients\u2019 access to care.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jane Townson, the chief executive of the Homecare Association, said employing overseas care staff was already more expensive and complex, but happened because of rising demand and a lack of UK workers, especially after the Covid pandemic.<\/p>\n
A levy that was higher for low-paid workers would particularly affect the care sector, she said: \u201cProviders cannot absorb this. The predictable risks would be reduced access to home care, causing harm to individuals and families, more people stuck in hospital, greater exploitation of workers, and provider failure damaging continuity of care for people \u2013 with the bill ultimately landing back on the public purse.\u201d<\/p>\n
For schools, the impact could vary. While nearly 6% of teachers in England are non-UK nationals, they are disproportionately represented in secondary schools, and particularly in subjects with shortages of staff such as languages and physics.<\/p>\n
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