- Conference
- 2023 National Black Members’ Conference
- Date
- 23 September 2022
- Decision
- Carried
Conference is clear that public services in the UK could not exist without migrant workers.
At the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, different petitions were raised calling on the government to scrape the payment of NHS surcharge by migrant workers. In October 2020, the government agreed that those migrant workers who were not on a health/care visa could apply for a reimbursement every six months that they work in the Health & Social Care Sector, starting from 31st March 2020.
Most of the migrant workers affected by this surcharge are Black – predominantly from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and South American countries. These are people who are legally resident in the UK on different types of Residence permit including skilled migrant workers, Family Route visa, Private Life Visa, Student visa, etc. They could only apply for reimbursement after paying as their visas are not tied to the Health & Social Care sector and they could choose to work in other sectors. Applicants were required to show proof of having worked an average minimum of sixteen hours per week in that sector for the six month period that their application covered.
Conference welcomes the campaigning work of UNISON and other organisations that persuaded the government to provide reimbursements and also inform our members about how to apply for it.
Conference expresses extreme disappointment that nearly two years since the reimbursement scheme was introduced, many applicants are yet to receive payment.
Conference calls on the National Black Members Committee to urgently raise the issue with the union’s National Executive Council and discuss what further support can be offered to members who have not received reimbursement.