Julia highlighted the role that the overseas domestic worker play in filling job roles, especially live in positions that no one from the UK or EU wishes to do.

Julia Harris also spoke on behalf of the Recruitment Employment Confederation (REC), who are the representative body for the recruitment industry, as she is a member of the REC Childcare Executive.

Speaking after the meeting, Julia said:-

“Today was an extremely important meeting and highlighted the significance of the Domestic workers visa in protecting candidates, whilst providing clients with high quality care and support. By uniting politicians and businesses, as well as anti slavery campaigners and domestic workers, we create a more powerful voice to explain the importance of the domestic workers route.

“We must ensure that all parties have a clear understanding of both the importance of retaining the domestic workers visa, protecting this vulnerable group of workers from potential exploitation, and the vital role they play in filling live in positions looking after children or the elderly. It is clear that these positions aren’t being filled by UK or EU Nationals and it is critical that by trying to drive down immigration the Government does not leave households without the essential support that they need.”

Notes for editors.

The Government is in the process of withdrawing the Domestic Worker Visa, something that Julia feels would be to the detriment of a very vulnerable group of workers and would also stop families having the freedom to choose the type of help that suits their particular circumstance. Even the Prime Minister has chosen a domestic worker to help with his own family.

The Government believes that the work done by non EU workers with Domestic Worker Visas can be done by Europeans. Unfortunately, in Julia’s wide ranging experience this is not the case.

For the last four years the Manchester based company, through their two divisions: The Housekeeper Company and The Carer Company, has been trying to recruit UK or EU live in Housekeepers and Carers for their many elderly clients across the country, but has found great difficulty in filling the posts. Domestic work is unattractive to UK nationals as people are no longer prepared to live in someone else’s home, working long and often unsociable hours. Many also have their own families who need looking after.

Prior to 2004, there was an influx of Eastern Europeans who were happy to take Live-In employment, as their visas restricted the type of work they could do. Now as part of the EU, they can work anywhere and working in shops, bars and restaurants is far more attractive than working as a Live-in Help. Greater opportunities in their own countries have also opened up and many have returned home.

Julia also feels that it is important to recognize the essential support that domestic workers bring to families. For us in the UK, with an increasingly ageing population, we need workers who are able to empathize with the vulnerable and who are happy to take this kind of employment and the need for Live-in-Help is greater than ever.

Recruitment companies, like the Housekeeper Company, have had to turn to non EU countries, like the Philippines, to try to meet the demand.

If the Domestic Worker Visa route is closed, many elderly people will have no choice but to go into Care Homes. A solution which is much more expensive usually causes faster deterioration, where capacity is already stretched and would also place more strain on Social Services. And, if reports in newspapers are to be believed, the standard of care received is often poor.

For Domestic Workers there are already restrictions in place, as under the current system, domestic workers are only able to renew their visa if they are already working as a domestic worker in a private household.

Restricting the extension of that visa would mean that employers would not be able to continue the employment of trusted help. This would be especially hard on elderly people who rely on continuity of care, especially if they suffer from illnesses, like dementia.

While fully supporting the idea of the Home Office tackling illegal immigration, Julia does not believe canceling the Domestic Worker Visa is the answer. She feels that the Government will be creating an even bigger problem. Workers will enter the UK with their employers on Visitor Visas and then disappear and work illegally which is what happened prior to the introduction of the Domestic Visa in 1998.

Since then, research suggests that domestic workers make a net contribution to the UK economy. Enable LTD (one example of a payroll company who manage PAYE for domestic workers) estimate that in the last 2 years Non EU domestic workers registered to them made a net contribution of £1.8 million to the UK economy. Given that they are only one example of such companies the exact figure will be much higher.

However, agencies such as Julia’s do acknowledge and support some of the efforts that the UKBA and the Government are making in trying to curtail immigration. Workers would still have the right to freely change employer and renew their visa on an annual basis, as long as they conform to the terms of the visa.

David and Samantha Cameron’s nanny is a Nepalese woman who was recruited from a charity which offers help and advice to immigrants seeking to escape abusive employers.
Gita Lima has been working for the Prime Minister and his wife for several years and helped to care for their severely disabled son Ivan, who died in 2009.

She was taken on by the couple after they advertised the position with the charity Kalayaan, which campaigns to protect the rights of domestic workers.

Ms Lima, who has not been publicly identified before, is understood to have applied for permission to stay in Britain permanently, though it is not clear what stage the process has reached.

Critics of the Government’s immigration policies say proposed changes to visa rules would make it impossible for women like her to work for anyone other than the employer who brought them into Britain.

They claim that would leave them vulnerable to exploitation.

Jenny Moss, a community worker at Kalayaan, told the Independent on Sunday: ‘Mr Cameron clearly understands the issues faced by migrant domestic workers and the reason why the right to change employer is so important to protect them from violence and exploitation.

‘It seems as though he either does not know about the policies proposed in the Home Office, or he has not made the connection between his Government’s proposals and the horrific consequences they could have for people like his own nanny.’

The proposed change is part of a Government plan to bring about large-scale reductions in migration from non-EU countries by 2015.

But it would prevent employers such as the Camerons from being able to give migrants a second chance at a working life in the UK, according to campaign groups. Ms
Lima lived with the couple and their children at their home in Notting Hill, West London, before joining them in Downing Street after Mr Cameron became Prime Minister last year.

It is not clear if she ‘lives in’ or has her own accommodation. Downing Street said the issue was a ‘private matter’.

The Prime Minister’s Nepalese nanny was a virtual slave for the family of a foreign diplomat in London before being rescued by the Camerons, the Mail can reveal.

Samantha Cameron recruited Gita Lama from a charity that helps abused domestic workers after she had fled the employment of an unknown Muslim family who refused to pay her.

Yet even though she has been an integral member of the Cameron household for the past eight years, her identity was unknown until last week when she was thrust into the spotlight after critics of the Government’s immigration policy said that if proposed changes to visa rules had been in place, she would not have been able to get the job in the first place.

They say the law change would mean migrant workers such as Mrs Lama would be unable to work for anyone other than the employer who brought them into Britain, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation.
Mrs Lama lived with the Camerons at their home in Notting Hill, West London, before joining them in Downing Street after David Cameron, 45, became Prime Minister last year.

She is said to be ‘much loved’ for the care she gave to the Camerons’ son Ivan, who was born with cerebral palsy and severe epilepsy and died in February 2009.

Mrs Lama, 32, was on leave with her family in Nepal at the time of Ivan’s death, but such was the Camerons’ affection for their nanny that they phoned and asked for her to return for their six-year-old son’s funeral.

The Mail tracked down Mrs Lama’s family to Arubari, a remote village in the Kathmandu valley, where they live in a £65,000 house paid for largely thanks to money she sends them.

Gita Lama’s parents live in a £65,000 house in Arubari, a remote village in the Kathmandu valley paid for largely from money she sends them
Her father Bhim Bahadur Lama told yesterday of her ‘deep and sentimental bond’ with Mr Cameron, his wife and their children Nancy, seven, Arthur Elwen, five, and one-year-old Florence.

But he revealed that before she joined the Camerons, she was employed by a Muslim diplomat in London shortly after arriving in the capital 12 years ago.

Mr Lama, 55, who runs a small shop from his two-storey home, said that while his daughter was not physically abused, she was not paid a salary and was given only lodging and food.

She left the job and contacted the London-based charity Kalayaan, with which the Camerons had advertised to find a nanny.

‘Thanks to her experience as a nanny and her good language skills, the Camerons hired her,’ said Mr Lama.

Her brother Pemba Lama, 25, said: ‘The Cameron family . . . are very kind to her and if they had not treated her well, she would not have stayed there for as long as she has.’

Her mother Thuli Lama, 60, added: ‘She is very happy with the Camerons and we are very proud of our daughter.’

Mrs Lama, who has another brother and an older sister, is understood to have applied to stay in Britain permanently, but it is not clear what stage the process has reached.

Five years ago she married hotel supervisor Pawan Lama, who is also from Nepal.

The proposals include limiting the maximum length of visas for overseas domestic workers to 12 months.

Hundreds of migrant domestic workers have demonstrated outside Parliament against proposed changes to their UK visa conditions.

Current rules allow them to change jobs and move to a different household without losing their immigrant status.

The Justice 4 Domestic Workers campaign says plans to end the right will leave staff open to abuse or exploitation.

The Home Office says no changes will be made to the current system until a consultation has ended.

The proposed change is part of the government’s pledge to cut net migration to tens of thousands by 2015.

In its consultation document, the UK Border agency says: “While we are restricting skilled work it would arguably be counter-intuitive to retain a route into the UK labour market for low skilled domestic workers via the private household route.”

Migrant workers entering the UK on Overseas Domestic Worker visas include chauffeurs, gardeners, cooks and nannies.

Justice 4 Domestic Workers, which represents 500 members from countries including the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Morocco and Nigeria, also has the support of the union Unite and the charity Kalayaan.

Settlement routes
Kalayaan, which offers domestic staff advice and support, said the existing visa provided “a vitally important safeguard for some of the most vulnerable and isolated workers”.

Changes under consideration

• Ending the visa for overseas domestic workers
Or keeping the visa but:
• Restricting it to six months or 12 months if
accompanying a Tier 1 or 2 migrant
• Removing possibility of extension
• Removing right to change employer
• Removing right to sponsor dependents or removing right of
dependents to work in UK
• Removing right to settlement
• Strengthening pre-entry requirements to minimise the
possibility of abuse or exploitation

Source: UK Border Agency consultation

Jenny Moss, community advocate at Kalayaan, said: “Removing the vital protections associated with the domestic worker visa will undoubtedly lead to an increase in abuse, exploitation and human trafficking.”

She added that the plans would not “significantly contribute” to the government’s objective of lowering net migration.

Marissa Begonia, from Justice 4 Domestic Workers, told the BBC: “The right to change employer is very important to us… it saves lives, especially for those domestic workers who are being sexually abused, who have been beaten, who have been asked to work for 24 hours….
“That is not work, that is slavery.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “This government is determined to get immigration down to sustainable levels.

“We are reviewing all work routes which can lead to settlement and it is right that we include the overseas domestic worker route as part of this.

“In addition, the government believes it is reasonable to expect an employer to recruit at this level within the UK.”

Released on 17 October 2011

The REC today spoke at a Parliamentary event on the domestic workers visa, highlighting recruiters concerns about the proposals for it to be scrapped.

The event, organised by Fiona McTaggart MP, looked at the implications of the proposed reforms to the Domestic workers visa and the effects that this would have on the candidate, clients, the recruitment industry and the wider employment market.

Julia Harris, member of the REC Childcare executive and Managing Director of the Housekeeper Company, who spoke on the panel at this event said:

“Today was an extremely important meeting and highlighted the significance of the Domestic workers visa in protecting candidates, whilst providing clients with high quality care and support.  By uniting politicians and businesses, as well as anti slavery campaigners and domestic workers, we create a more powerful voice to explain the importance of the domestic workers route.

 ”We must ensure that all parties have a clear understanding of both the importance of retaining the domestic workers visa, protecting this vulnerable group of workers from potential exploitation, and the vital role they play in filling live in positions looking after children or the elderly.  It is clear that these positions aren’t being filled by UK or EU Nationals and it is critical that by trying to drive down immigration the Government does not leave households without the essential support that they need.”

Highlighting the effect on workers, Fiona McTaggart, MP for Slough and sponsor of the event added:

“The overseas domestic worker visa gives a worker the power to withdraw their labour without becoming an illegal migrant.  Just doing that has cut abuse massively and it is wrong for the government to try to return domestic workers to the risk of slavery.  Workers in diplomatic households who do not have the freedom to move employers are nearly 20 times as likely to suffer abuse as other migrant domestic workers.”

Lindley Financial Management Limited

                                            4 Gatesgarth Crescent, Lindley, Huddersfield. HD3 3LG       

                                                            Telephone (01484) 316547

Lifetime Mortgages

A lifetime mortgage is a form of equity release scheme where a loan is secured against your property to provide you with a cash to spend as you wish, typically with no monthly repayments to meet.

Lifetime mortgages have become a highly popular form of equity release over the past few years, prompting many providers to offer a variation of a lifetime mortgage called a drawdown  plan which allows you to release equity as and when you need it, rather than taking a lump sum or regular income.

Another option is to take the money as a regular income, although this is usually a less popular choice.

Usually interest is added to the lifetime mortgage loan throughout your lifetime, accruing at a fixed or variable rate. The loan plus interest is eventually paid back when the home is sold, usually when you move into long term care, or when you and your partner die. You can typically release between 18-50% of the value of your home with a lifetime mortgage, depending on your age.

Advantages of a lifetime mortgage

• A lifetime mortgage gives you the choice of a cash lump sum or income, typically with no monthly repayments to meet
• You retain full ownership of your home
• Lifetime mortgages are available to younger people (aged 55+)
• Some lifetime mortgage plans let you guarantee an inheritance for your family

Disadvantages of a lifetime mortgage

• The amount you leave as an inheritance will be reduced
• The interest applied can grow quickly as it is compounded
• You can’t usually raise as much money with a lifetime mortgage as you could with a reversion plan, especially at younger ages
• If you repay the lifetime mortgage early, you may have to pay an early repayment charge

  Equity Release – Home Reversion Plans

With a home reversion plan you sell part or all of your home to a reversion plan company in exchange for a tax-free cash lump sum and a guaranteed lifetime lease with no monthly payments to meet.

You stay in your home rent free for as long as you choose and are able to guarantee an inheritance to your beneficiaries. Both you and the reversion scheme company share in any increase in your property’s value, according to the percentages owned.

Advantages of a home reversion plan

• You are able to guarantee an inheritance
• There are no monthly repayments to make
• You benefit from any increase in value of the percentage of the property that you still own
• You can typically raise more money from your home at a younger age with a reversion plan than a lifetime mortgage would allow
• The older you are, the more money you will be able to release with a reversion plan

Disadvantages of a home reversion plan

• Typically, you do not receive the full market value of the share of the property you sell because the reversion plan company will give you the absolute right to live in it rent free for the rest of your life, and will not get their money back for a number of years
• The reversion plan company owns a share of your home and will also benefit from any increase in value
• Reversion plans cannot usually be reversed as you are selling part of your home
• The majority of reversion plan providers do not guarantee further advances

This Consulate General no longer accepts visa appointment requests by post or in person. Applications for visas will be accepted only BY PREVIOUS APPOINTMENT.

Please DO NOT BUY your travel tickets.

Applicants must have RESIDENCE STATUS IN THE UK.

The request for a visa must be lodged at the Spanish Consulate where the applicant is resident.

If the applicant is not a permanent resident the application will have to be referred to the corresponding Spanish Embassy or Consulate and may be refused. (see here for Jurisdiction).

The applicant must fulfil the following requirements: Passport or travel document, valid for at least 4 months longer than the validity of the requested visa, with ONE FULL BLANK page to affix the visa.

Two Schengen visa application forms.pdf fully completed and signed by the applicant at the bottom on the front page.

In the case of minors the parent or legal guardian may sign.

Two regulation passport colour photographs. Two photographs for each child to be included in the parent’s passport, if applicable.

Evidence that the applicant has sufficient funds to cover the cost of the intended stay, in the form of a full bank statement which must include the applicant’s address (and which must have been received by the applicant at the home address).

Email and internet account statements are not accepted. Photocopies will be required. Proof of visit and purpose may be required.

Please note that visas are not issued on the same day.

Do not buy tickets if your country is marked (1) as the application must be referred and the visa will take 3 to 4 weeks to process from your appointment date.

Check your country here.

A recent letter from the employer, or if the person is self employed, a letter from their solicitor, accountant, Bank Manager or Local chamber of Commerce.

Photocopies will be required. Students must submit a recent letter from the School, College or University, confirming attendance. Where the school trip forms part of the school curriculum, evidence, guarantees and insurance must be provided by the School or University taking the pupils to Spain. Photocopies will be required.

Evidence of medical insurance is now compulsory when travelling into any of the Schengen States. Photocopies will be required.

In the case of joint passports, please declare if the husband/wife/child is to be included in the passport, otherwise the visa will only allow entry for the holder of the passport or Travel document.

Photographs must be supplied of the person to be included together with proof that he/she is in the UK. Depending on individual circumstance additional documents may be required. 13/07/2007

The Schengen Office provides a visa processing service for tourist and business purposes to over 30 countries (See the price list). Our clients include individuals, leading travel agents, tour operators and corporate travellers. http://www.theschengenoffice.com/spain_embassy.html

HOLDERS OF PASSPORTS WHO DO NOT REQUIRE A VISA TO ENTER SPAIN

Visas are NOT required for passports of any of the following countries, regardless of purpose and/or length of stay in Spain:

The European Union
Iceland
Norway
Switzerland

If your intended stay in Spain will exceed 90 days, registration with the local police authorities is no longer required.

Passports of all these countries (including UK passports) are valid to visit or stay in SPAIN up to the last day of their validity.

Minors included in the parent’s passport must be accompanied by the parent.

The child’s right to travel on the passport will lapse depending on the age stipulated by the issuing country. Please see passport for details.

For visits NOT EXCEEDING NINETY DAYS, visas are not required for:

Holders of valid passports issued by the following countries or dependencies:

Andorra
Anguilla
Argentina
Australia
Bermuda
Brazil
British National Overseas
Brunei
Bulgaria
Canada
Chile
Costa Rica
Croatia
El Salvador
Guatemala
Honduras
Hong Kong
SAR
Israel
Japan
Korean
Republic Liechtenstein
Macao
SAR Malaysia
Mexico
Monaco
Montserrat
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Panama
Paraguay
Romania
San Marino
Singapore
St. Helena
The Caiman Islands
The Falklands Islands
The Virgin Islands
Turks & Caicos Islands
Uruguay
USA
Vatican City
Venezuela

Holders of Travel Documents issued under the Geneva Convention of July 1951, by the following countries:

Belgium,
Cyprus,
Denmark,
Germany,
Iceland,
Ireland,
Liechtenstein,
Luxembourg,
Norway,
the Netherlands,
Spain,
Sweden,
Switzerland
United Kingdom.

Crew members of airlines and merchant navy.

If you hold a valid residence permit in any of the Schengen member states, you are entitled to re-enter the Schengen area without a visa on production of your proof of residence and your passport. This information applies ONLY TO ORDINARY PASSPORTS.

All other nationalities, not listed above NEED A VISA and the requirements for these vary according to NATIONALITY, PASSPORT or TRAVEL DOCUMENT used, PURPOSE and DURATION of the trip.

HOLDERS OF THE FOLLOWING PASSPORTS REQUIRE A VALID VISA TO ENTER SPAIN

Afghanistan (1)(2*)
Antigua Albania (2)
Algeria (1)
Angola (2)
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh (2*)
Barbados
elarus
Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bolivia (as from 1.04.07)
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Botswana Burundi (1)
British Dependent Territories (3)
British Overseas Citizens (3)
British Protected Persons (3)
British Subjects (3)
Cambodia Cameroon
Cape Verde
Central Africa Rep.
Chad China (1)
Colombia (1)
Comoros
Congo
Cuba (2)
Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire )(1) (2*)
Djibouti
Dominica Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Ecuatorial Guinea
Egypt (1)
Eritrea (2*)
Ethiopia (2*)
Fiji Frandesspass documents (1)
Gabon Gambia Georgia Ghana (2*)
Grenada Guinea (2)
Guinea-Bissau (2)
Guyana
Haiti
Hong Kong
India (2)
Indonesia (1)
Iran (1)(2*)
Iraq (1)(2*)
Ivory Coast (2)
Jamaica Jordan (1)
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kirgyzstan
Kiribati
Kuwait (1)
Laos
Lebanon (1)
Lesotho
Liberia (2)
Libya (1)
Macedonia
Madagascar
Malawi
Maldives
Mali (2)
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mongolia
Moldova
Montenegro
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Niger
Nigeria (2*)
North Korea (1)
Oman Pakistan (1)(2*)
Palestine (1)
Papua New Guinea
Peru
Philippines (1)
Qatar
Refugee Travel Documents (1)
Russia
Rwanda (1)
St. Kitts
St. Lucia
St. Vincent
Sao
Tome
Western Samoa
Saudi Arabia (1)
Senegal (2)
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone (2)
Solomon Islands
Somalia (1)(2*)
South Africa
Sri Lanka (2*)
Sudan (1)(2)
Suriname (1)
Swaziland
Syria (1)
Taiwan
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo (2)
Tonga
Trinidad & Tobago
Tunisia

Turkey

Turkmenistan
Tuvalu
Uganda
United Arab Emirates
Ukraine
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Vietnam
Yemen (1)
Zambia
Zimbabwe (1)

This visa will take 3 to 4 weeks to process.

Please do NOT BUY TICKETS

Please note that certain documents are not recognised by the Spanish Authorities and are therefore not valid to travel to Spain.

These include Certificates of Identity issued by the Home Office, which are not covered by the Geneva or New York Conventions.

(2) AN AIRPORT TRANSIT VISA is required if the person is not a PERMANENT RESIDENT in Canada, European Union, or the USA.

(2*) AN AIRPORT TRANSIT VISA is not required if resident in Andorra, Canada, the European Union, Japan, Monaco, San Marino, Switzerland, or the USA, including holders of Diplomatic and Service Passports.

The Airport Transit visa will only allow the holder into the International Lounge and will NOT permit the passenger entry into Spain.

(3) Passports with ’European community’ on the cover do not require a visa

(4) The visa issued is not valid for all the Schengen countries. Children of any age holding a valid passport will require a visa. 13/07/2007

From Meriam Miguel
“The Housekeeper Company is only the agency I can trust. Thank you very much for your excellent service and for matching me to the most kind and understanding employers I have ever had. I am so grateful for everything you have done for me.”

From Maurene Orena
“A friend highly recommended The Housekeeper Company and was delighted I speak the same language as the interviewer. Pia understood my needs and matched me with very decent employers who are always willing to support me. They care about my future and in return I will do my best to make them happy.”

From Elizabeth Punoor
“With The Housekeeper Company I get complete back-up support when I need advice. They know how to match applicants with employers, they are very efficient and professional. They do not charge agency fees and the people running it are friendly and extremely helpful. They are a rare find.”

From Jeannie Llamera
“During the interview Pia explained issues concerning domestic employment and each time I call her she is always helpful and understanding. The Housekeeper Company is straight-forward and honest in dealing with the applicants. The reason why this company is very popular is their professionalism and dedication. With the respect I get both from the agency and my kind and generous employers I no longer feel the stigma of being a lowly domestic helper.”

Bank and Statutory Holidays are included as part of their annual paid holiday, but not as extra days above and beyond the annual entitlement.

The Agency does recommend that the employer maintain a degree of flexibility and understanding with regard to time off for any religious festivals, for example Easter and Christmas.

Employees are entitled to remuneration during their employer’s holidays, as these would be normal working days for the employee, unless they coincided with their own holiday leave.

It may be helpful to communicate with your employee, with a view to planning holiday leave during a similar period, if mutually convenient.

Unpaid leave is discretionary and should be agreed between employer and employee.

On leaving your employment, your domestic worker would be entitled to holiday pay in lieu of any holidays not taken.