A post-Brexit salary threshold of £30,000 for skilled immigrants would have a profound impact on the care sector in Scotland, it has been claimed.
Dr Donald Macaskill, who is the chief executive of Scottish Care, said the figure was “absolutely bizarre” as he revealed the majority of care workers in Scotland earned around £18,000.
Dr Macaskill, who was appearing before the Commons Scottish affairs committee, also revealed that uncertainty over Britain’s exit from the European Union had resulted in a 67% drop in applicants to the sector from EU countries.
Concerns have been raised that a proposal to introduce a £30,000-a-year minimum salary threshold on EU workers would make it more difficult for firms to attract and retain staff required for lower-income positions.
He said: “We find the £30,000 salary setting absolutely bizarre, nobody in social care falls into that category according to independent research, 10% might get to £25,000.
“The average salary for social care in Scotland is £18,000, so we are concerned about the use of salary as a characterisation in itself.”
He added: “We desperately need a system which is light of touch, is flexible, is person centered and is enabling of local divergence and diversity both within Scotland and across other parts of the UK.”
The comments came as MPs heard evidence from business leaders on immigration and Scotland.
There have been calls for immigration policy to be devolved to Scotland to meet business demands for EU workers.
However Gregor Scotland, CBI Scotland principal policy adviser, indicated the priority for businesses is on having a single system for the UK.
He said: “From my conversations with businesses in Scotland, both since the White Paper was published and beforehand, I would say that the focus of the businesses I’ve spoken to has very much been on the practicalities of this, not about the politics, not about the wider constitutional issues.
“They want a system that is as simple as possible, that is as easy to access as possible and that allows them to access the people and the skills that they need to grow the economy.”