In its 2021 white paper, the Department said it expected the number of jobs in adult social care to increase by almost one-third by 2035.42 Given its reliance on overseas workers to date, we asked what percentage of the workforce it expected to come from overseas in future. The Department told us that it did not do workforce planning in this way because it was not a public sector workforce but rather a private sector workforce with 18,000 employers.43 We asked whether recent changes in Home Office visa policies that restrict overseas workers from bringing dependents might have an impact on the sector’s ability to recruit from overseas. The Department assured us that it expected to be able to carry on recruiting internationally for people without dependents.44 We also asked about the risks of exploitation and modern slavery through the care sector. For example, the charity Unseen UK reported that its anti-modern slavery and exploitation helpline had seen a 606% increase in care sector cases from 2021 to 2022, and that it expected cases in 2023 to exceed 130. The Department told us that, while it does not have a statutory responsibility for the issue, it recognises the concern, and that it was working with other organisations to minimise the issue.45