Local Authorities: Supporting International Care Workers in the West Midlands

Local Authorities Across the West Midlands Collaborating to Enhance Support for Care Providers & International Care Workers

Local authorities across the West Midlands play a crucial role in fostering a supportive environment for both care providers and international care workers.

Through tailored initiatives and resources, we aim to strengthen the adult social care sector and address key challenges such as ethical recruitment and worker retention.

We are working with International Recruitment (IR) Leads, across all of the 14 Local Authorities in the West Midlands to:

• Support care providers in navigating sponsorship regulations and maintaining compliance.
• Enhance protections for international care workers facing unethical practices or sponsorship issues.
• Provide resources that strengthen the recruitment and retention of skilled care workers in adult social care.

Enhanced Local Support Through the Small Grants Programme

There is also local support via a Small Grants Programme. Eight councils in the West Midlands are using the Small Grants Programme to develop unique initiatives tailored to local needs. These initiatives include:

  • Training and development
  • Housing advice
  • Pastoral support
  • Support with Sponsorship Licences

SPOTLIGHT

Compliance Guide for Sponsoring International Workers

This guide is designed for care providers sponsoring or planning to sponsor overseas workers in the UK. It offers best practices to help you meet Right to Work responsibilities and prepare for Home Office inspections.

Legal and HR helpline

Our Legal & HR helpline, run by law firm Lester Aldridge, is available to all CQC registered care providers and local authorities across the West Midlands until the end of September 2025.

Alongside the Enhanced Support Offers, delivered by councils, we are working in partnership with IR Leads to deliver a Regional-wide model.

This support includes:

Legal & HR Support
Ethical Recruitment
Support for International Workers
Hire Sponsored Care Workers
Resources
Supporting Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) Applications
Legal & Human Resources Support
Legal FAQs

Supporting Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) Applications

Local Authorities can support care provider’s Supporting Certificates of Sponsorship applications in a bid to try and quickly secure sponsorship for displaced international care workers.

How Local Authorities Can Help with CoS Applications

  1. Assess CoS applications from providers using the provided UKVI checklist, which includes verifying contracts and ensuring that CoS requests are reasonable
  2. Submit a letter of support to UKVI once satisfied with the provider’s application.

Please note, the letter of support to help speed up CoS applications is optional and is not an endorsement, nor does it guarantee UKVI will accept the application. DASSs can decline to provide a letter of support if they do not have sufficient information, or if they cannot assure themselves that the number of CoS applied for is reasonable.

Additional Sponsorship Support

We have partnered with Lifted, a technology platform and expert immigration team, to help care providers recruit and retain sponsored workers who are already here in the UK, and to protect their sponsorship licenses. 

Lifted will complete all Home Office, and CQC compliance, organise housing and provide immigration support. They will also pay all of your upfront recruitment fees and replace this with a simple monthly fee that covers all their support to make sponsorship affordable.