The Supreme Court's judgment on deprivation of liberty

You may be aware that the Supreme Court has recently issued a judgment which significantly changes the legal approach to determining whether a person is deprived of their liberty. The judgement can be seen here A Reference by the Attorney General for Northern Ireland of a devolution issue under paragraph 34 o….

We would encourage you to familiarise yourselves with the judgment and carefully consider the implications for your services and practice. Please see the following links for further information: CQC statement on the Supreme Court's judgment on deprivation of liberty - Care Quality Commission and 2026-UKSC-16-Summary-for-website.pdf.

We ask that you refer to this updated position when making any new referrals to the DoLS team.  In addition, as the change came into effect immediately from 2 June, please review any recent DoLS referrals you have made. You should consider whether, in light of this revised approach, any of these referrals may no longer be appropriate.

We hope this offers reassurance whilst we wait for additional National guidance to be disseminated.  At this stage we don’t have further information, but if you have a specific query, you can contact the MCA DoLS Duty Team at Dolforms@essex.gov.uk

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International Recruitment for Social Care Services

Recruiting displaced international workers

For care providers who want to recruit displaced international workers please see below. If you are based in, or recruiting in Essex, Southend, Thurrock, Hertfordshire and Suffolk complete our online form when you are ready to recruit.

Your details will be passed onto the appropriate Local Authority for response. They will send you contact details of international workers who match your requirements. Where there are no matches we will contact UKVI to confirm you have approached us.

Enquiries: essexsuffolkhertsir@essex.gov.uk 

International Recruitment East is working in collaboration with Borderless connecting displaced care workers living in the East of England, with pre-vetted ethical social care providers with sponsorship licences. This service is free to access.

Verified providers can join the platform, filter and search candidate profiles, and manage outreach through a secure dashboard. All worker profiles are pre-screened, giving providers confidence in the recruitment process.

Register on the platform

International Recruitment East - Provider Resources

The International Recruitment East website is an online hub of information, resources and support is for everyone in the East of England involved in the recruitment of international staff for adult social care.

As part of the Eastern Region's programme of support for International Recruitment, Lester Aldridge will be providing up to 30 minutes of free advice from immigration experts.  Contact 01202 786104 or email eastproviderlegal@la-law.com.
This support runs until 31 March 2026.

They can offer advice on:

  • sponsorship licences
  • certificates of sponsorship (CoS)
  • sponsorship management
  • UKVI compliance
  • immigration and sponsorship related topics

Phone lines are open: 8:30 - 18:00 Monday to Friday (outside of these times there will be an answerphone). Please read the terms and conditions available here before you use this service.

Aims of the meetings:

  • Strengthen ethical practices in international recruitment and the employment of staff working in adult social care
  • Share best practice and good news stories
  • Develop shared solutions to prevent and respond to exploitative employment issues
  • Increase employment opportunities for impacted displaced Care workers
  • Reflect on the journey of sponsorship and what we have learnt and improved

Book here for the next meeting

Sponsorship management, compliance and obligations

See below content of this resource:

Resource Guides:

  • SMS Step by Step Guide Manuals 1 – 12
  • Step by Step Certificate of Sponsorship Process Guide

Webinar slides

  • Certificate of Sponsorship
  • Provider support workshop: Home Office compliance & your responsibilities
  • Visa application process
  • How to use the Home Office Sponsor Management System (SMS)
  • Compliance and sponsor duties
  • Leadership and Culture
  • Sponsor Licence Compliance Audits & Revocations
  • Dealing with third Parties in social care (managing cultural diversity)
  • Building a Team in Social Care (addressing cultural barriers in team building)
  • Welfare of International Recruits in social care
  • UK Laws and Regulations for UKVI
  • Adapting your training and induction programme

This is an offer for providers to support UKVI compliance and to help reduce risk of revocations linked to record keeping.

If you have recently had a mock UKVI compliance audit, or are planning one, you may qualify for a full or partial refund of the cost.

Eastern Region Care Association Alliance (ERCAA) are the point of contact for information, criteria and refunds - Apply here

Our colleagues in Yorkshire and Humber have worked hard to develop a self-assessment tool for care providers so they can determine they have everything needed in place to be compliant with their Sponsorship Licence. Please visit their page and look at the section titled “We work with regional local authority partners to deliver” and you will find it in the second bullet point down. We hope you find this useful.

Last updated: 11/06/2026