Pro Bono Pinoy

Norwich Union (now Avia) have been targeting Philippine UK nationals by demanding money with menaces.

Their tactics are to select Philippine nations who have little or no knowledge of the UK insurance industry and then when their policies expire they secretly reinstate them in order to demand further payments, although Pinoys appoint advisors to challenge these claims Norwich Union then ignore them and continue demanding money.

Should any of the Pinoy community in the UK become a victim to these unlawful practices then make a formal complaint to the Financial Services Ombudsman also you may wish reconsider your insurance needs with another insurance provider.

Philippine Students are warned that another serious scam has come to light which is now affecting many Philippine students residing in the UK as well as a number of Philippine students who are still resident in the Philippines and have applied for Student Visas.

If passport has been stolen then report this to the Philippine Embassy (London) and also apply for a replacement passport.

Report Change of Circumstances to Borer and Immigration Agency (standard form).

Following many more formal complaints from students and their sponsors from both the UK and the Philippines West Mercia Constabulary CID (Criminal Investigation Department) and the Immigration Intelligence Unit along with Worcestershire Trading Standards are now officially investigating The Healthcare Training Academy Limited.

Mrs Carole Ann Grice, one of the directors of The Healthcare Training Academy Limited has now been disqualified as a director for 7 years by Company's House also see The Insolvency Service for the reasons.

The Healthcare Training Academy's website has now been taken down following formal complaints from

Having now approached the Philippine Ambassador Mr. Mark Pritchard MP has now secured official assistance for all affected students, they are advised to contact Ms. Edith Mallin, Assistant to Nationals Officer on 0207 4511826.

More formal complaints of theft and deception made to Chief Constable of West Mercia Police.

Formal complaints made to Mr. Mark Pritchard MP, Dr. Richard Taylor MP, Mr. James Plaskitt MP and Mr. Daniel Kawczymski MP.

Formal Complaints made to Ambassador Mr. Edgardo B. Espiritu of the Philippine Embassy (London)

Formal complaint made to Accreditation Services for International Colleges.

FURTHER WARNING: The Healthcare Training Academy Limited are now offering a so-called Summer Sunshine Promotion 09

This is a false offer designed to fool their current students into believing that they can re-claim their course fees in exchange for introducing five new students.

2nd June 2009 Smith finally resigns as Home Jacqui Smith reacts after addressing the House of Commons to announce that all Gurkha veterans who retired before 1997 with a minimum for four years' service, will be allowed to settle in the UK

Jacqui Smith reacts after addressing the House of Commons to announce that all Gurkha veterans who retired before 1997 with a minimum for four years' service, will be allowed to settle in the UK

Secretary following her exaggerated parliamentary expense claims which included claims for "pornographic movies" and a "bath plug"

With all opinion polls showing the Labour party as unelectable Smith has little chance of being re-elected as MP for Redditch as the anger and outrage from her constituents continues in the wake of the MP's expense scandal , whilst ordinary people face economic hardship from the economic recession Smith and her chums were for many years caught fiddling the tax payer by making exaggerated and in some cases, fraudulent claims .

29th March 2009 Jackie Smith the Home Secretary has again been slammed by the UK media for claiming the costs of "adult movies" with regards to her parliamentary expenses, this latest scandal follows last months formal investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards for her controversial claim of £116,000 with regards to her second home.

Smith who has a small majority in her Redditch constituency is now facing an ugly backlash from her constituents given the current economic climate and her apparent greed in claiming public money, most political commentators believe that she is unlikely to be re-elected in next years national elections.

Questions are now being asked at high level : Is Smith a FIT AND PROPER PERSON to be the Home Secretary?

25th February 2009 Following a Pro Bono Pinoy campaign which assisted a number of Philippine national to register formal complaints of fraud and deception to the UK police Angelique BLIN who runs a business called Overseas Angels was finally brought to justice when she appeared before Westminster Magistrates Court .

BLIN pleaded not guilty to the specimen charges of acting as a Visa Agent when she was not authorised to do, she then elected to be tried by a jury at Crown Court .

18th February 2009 Following formal complaints from neighbours of the Home Secretary regarding her claims of £116,000 for her second home the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards has now begun an investigation into Smith's claims that she spends more time residing in her London home than she does in her private home.

13th February 2009 One of the Philippine Care Workers who at her own expense has brought a High Court action against the Home Office for racial discrimination and procedural impropriety has today received a written apology from the Treasury Solicitor after making a formal complaint of being threatened with deportation just because she exercised her legal right to challenge the Home Secretary, the Treasury Solicitor claimed that there had been an "error" when it was stated on their defence documents that she was likely to be removed within three days if her application for a Judicial Review was refused by the Court, the Treasury Solicitor also attempted to influence the High Court by formally requesting that her legal right to request a reinstatement of her claim should be denied. The Philippine national has subsequently rejected the written apology as she believes the so called "error" was no such thing as the solicitor clearly intended to intimidate her into discontinuing her claim, a formal complaint of Professional Misconduct has now been made to the Law Society who govern the conduct of solicitors.

In support of her claim of racial discrimination and procedural impropriety the Philippine national has now been joined by other Philippine nationals as Interested Parties" who say they have all been subjected to the same unfairness by the UK Border & Immigration Agency.

9th February 2009 Since the British Embassy in Manila and the UK Border and Immigration Agency in London have ignored formal complaints of bribery and corruption a formal complaint has now been made to Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson of New Scotland Yard (Metropolitan Police).

Although the so called UK Independent Entry Clearance Monitor is supposed to monitor and report such formal complaints against overseas Entry Clearance staff it has now emerged that she is sharing the very same office as the UK Border and Immigration Agency who she is supposed to be monitoring therefore it is very difficult to see how she is independent.

It has also come to light that the Entry Clearance Office in Manila is no stranger to bribery and corruption as the previous Entry Clearance Manager was convicted and imprisoned for three years for issuing false Visa's in return for money and sex see press story

Meanwhile back in the UK a number of Philippine nationals who were invited to the UK to work in the care industry by the UK government have been exploited by unscrupulous UK employment / recruitment agencies in collusion with BIA officials See B I A Bung Chart

Also those Philippine nationals who exercise their legal right to challenge the BIA by way of Judicial Review are then intimidated by the Treasury Solicitor (UK government lawyers) when attempts are made to interfere with their legal rights, in addition they are also threatened with immediate deportation, these matters have already been reported to Prime Minister Gordon Brown and President Gloria Macapagal –Arroyo.

9th February 2009 While Jackie Smith the Home Secretary has sparked yet another row over her claims of £116,000 for her second home the Foreign and Commonwealth Office which is one of her departments has now run out of cash ! the situation is now so bad that the UK no longer has diplomatic representation in over 60 countries throughout the world, in addition to Embassy closures diplomatic posts are also being axed in a desperate cost cutting exercise.

Due to Draconian Home Office directives your UK Visa Application is very likely to be refused by the British Embassy without even being considered, your complaints will simply be ignored and any subsequent appeals will be conveniently "stalled" and then "lost" until they are out of time.

Whilst the Philippine government kindly extend the courtesy of a 21 day "no visa requirement" to all British citizens who wish to experience the unique culture of the Philippines the British Embassy in Manila offer no such courtesy to any Philippine nationals who wish to visit the UK for a vacation or to see their loved ones, instead they regard them as "third world undesirables", they then charge them extortionate application fees and subject them to an attitude of indifference by creating an endless obstacle course which includes a carefully designed "self disqualifying" Visa Application form, payment methods that require bank accounts which are beyond most Pilipino in addition to access to and knowledge of the Internet in order to make on line applications the likes of which rarely work in any event, further manufactured obstacles and restrictions are provided whereby anyone who wishes to make a personal visit to the Visa Application Centre then encounter long queues of people who often arrive in the early hours of the morning with a vain hope to get their Visa Application handed in due to the severely restricted two hour service, most do not get past the front door and have to return countless times.

Having finally got your Visa Application into the Visa Application Centre the British Embassy then do nothing for weeks, you can of course go on line and "track" your application however as the British Embassy deliberately avoid providing you with a reference number you will discover nothing.

Contrary to UK law and the regular criticism by the UK Independent Inspector the British Embassy then search for any excuse to justify a refusal , this will include totally disregarding the merits and supporting evidence of your Visa Application the likes of which includes documents to prove your good character, your long term employment status, your economic and social ties to the Philippines and your need to return to the Philippines because of your dependents and employment, they will also completely ignore your UK sponsors who not only agree to fund the entire visit but also guarantee to ensure that you will return back to the Philippines at the end of your vacation, although their reasons for refusal will be based upon groundless assumptions they will then deny you an interview which would afford you the opportunity to address the fabricated excuses that support the Refusal Notice.

Although the British government apply rigid immigration rules to Philippine nationals the same rules do not apply to other nationalities who are allowed into the UK (often as terrorists) others nationals who are well known to the Home Office as illegal immigrants also work for the Home Office with false documents however as bribery is common a large amount of cash given to the appropriate official always works wonders (See B I A Bung). needless to say there are many who believe that these double standards amounts to racial discrimination against honest Philipinos.

Having been refused your Visa the Refusal Notice will then be served upon you 10 days after the decision was taken thus your statutory 28 day period to appeal is now deliberately reduced to 18 days and unless you file your appeal with proof of delivery the British Embassy will simply deny they ever received it therefore it is vital to use a postal service which provides a signature as proof of delivery.

or has any information regarding British Embassy or BIA officials accepting bribes

20th January 2009 The Philippine national who won her appeal at the UK Asylum and Immigration Tribunal in November 2008 has now filed an application for a Judicial Review at the High Court in London, this follows another unlawful refusal by Andrew Battson the Entry Clearance Manager from the British Embassy in Manila .

The formal complaints made against Battson are, as expected, still being ignored by the British authorities.

2nd February 2009 High Court Judicial Review claim now served upon the UK government.

23rd December 2008 The Philippine Care Workers who at their own expense have brought a High Court action against the Home Office for racial discrimination and procedural impropriety have been told by the Treasury Solicitor who represents the government that they cannot get free legal help from their friend David Edgar because he is not a lawyer. Although the Philippine Care Workers are banned under UK law from receiving any kind of legal aid they are expected to pay for lawyers on their low incomes.

David Edgar has written to the Treasury Solicitor indicating that until the High Court ban him from giving free help and advice he will continue to do so, he has also suggested that there behaviour is oppressive and vexatious.

23rd December 2008 Despite winning her appeal at a UK Asylum and Immigration Appeal Tribunal Entry Clearance Manager Andrew Battson from the British Embassy (Manila) refused to issue the Philippine national 's Tourist Visa despite a 16 page judgement which ruled that the refusal was unlawful due to a number of human rights violations, Battson then claimed he would appeal the decision to a higher court however as he failed to do so within the legal time limit he was then forced to climb down and issue the Tourist Visa however following a spiteful tantrum Battson has now withdrawn the Tourist Visa claiming there had been an "error"

Although Battson has failed to identify the so called "error" he will now have every opportunity to do so as he is now subject to a number of formal complaints to the UK authorities, he has also caused a legal challenge to be implemented in the High Court by way of a Judicial Review.

5th December 2008 UK Home Secretary Jackie Smith is taken to Court again by a number of UK Philippine Care Workers over more Racial Discrimination and Procedural Impropriety, these days Smith appears to spends more time in the High Court than she does in her own office having her controversial immigration policies ruled unlawful .

Unfair Dismissal Claims Commenced Against Southern Cross Healthcare: 11 Others: 1

Although Southern Cross Healthcare claimed they couldn't afford to pay their Philippine Senior Care Workers a decent hourly rate when they unlawfully fired many of them it didn't stop them spending countless millions on their aggressive campaign of care homes acquisitions however 18 months later following crippling legal costs which are still ongoing in trying to defend the many unfair dismissal claims and a massive downturn in the economy they have now defaulted on their £36m bank loan as they are unable to sell any of their hastily acquired business assets. Having seen this coming several of their directors then jumped ship and left the company but not before cashing in their shares for millions of pounds, this causing the company share value to crash to 75% of its former value, not surprisingly their dwindling number of share holders have also been given a profit warning as things go from bad to worse.

One city annalist has said that it is difficult to see how Southern Cross Healthcare can survive.

3rd June 2008 A judge from the Manchester Employment Tribunal has been asked to step down following complaints of bias against the Claimants.

16th May 2008 Police are called in as Southern Cross Healthcare is suspected of attempting to pervert the course of justice by intimidating Claimants and their witnesses.

15th May 2008 CSCI COVER-UP Having claimed to have inspected the staffing and qualification records of the Cottage Christian Nursing home CSCI then applied a stage two COVER-UP when they refused to disclose the same. Since it is believed that the CSCI inspector has made a false statement about staffing levels being compliant with the Care Homes Regulations 2001 the matter has now been reported to West Mercia police.

Goodbye Southern Cross.......

1st May 2008 Senior Care Worker , Chat, is finally granted her Work Permit with her new employer.

25th April 2008 Southern Cross Healthcare now facing 10 claims of unlawful dismissal and racial discrimination , the hearing has now been upgraded to last 4 weeks.

18th April 2008 A very sad day for all as Mrs Gwyneth Dunwoody MP passes away.

Today it was announced that Mrs Dunwoody MP the lady who fought so tirelessly for many Philippine Senior Care Workers to continue living and working in the UK had passed away. Truly a great lady who simply refused to back down against unbelievable Home Office incompetence and won the right for her girls to stay in the UK .

16th April 2008 Southern Cross Healthcare now facing 10 claims of unlawful dismissal and racial discrimination in one hearing when a Judge at the Manchester Employment Tribunal consolidated the claims into one large case, it is expected that the final hearing will be set down for a hearing later this year, the hearing is expected to last two weeks.

16th April 2008 HSBC and Norwich Union under investigation by Financial Ombudsman for adding racist terms and conditions to their financial products.

16th April 2008 Senior Care Worker, Magnolia is finally granted a five year Work Permit with her new employer.

13th April 2008 Senior Care Worker, Lalaine is finally granted a five year Work Permit with her new employer.

11th April 2008 CSCI COVER-UP as the official care report from the Cottage Christian Nursing (a public document) goes missing, a stage two complain is now made by David Edgar however a stage two COVER-UP will no doubt be applied.

27th March 2008 Mr. Andrew Stunell MP raises more concerns with Immigration Minister Liam Byrne in Parliament (House of Commons) regarding the lack of transparency with respect to the new regulations for Senior Carer's rules, in particular Mrs Chatellon Matibag who has tirelessly worked in the UK for four years recently discovered that although new work permits are now being granted there are still a number of potential employers that are being discouraged from making Work Permit Applications because the Border and Immigration Agency are issuing conflicting advice regarding the renewal of Visa applications.

Having accepted the criticism the Minister agreed to consider Mrs Matibag's case with a view to delivering a satisfactory solution within a few days.

7th March 2008 Newport Senior Care Workers , Annie, Malou and Soc are finally granted five year Work Permits with their new employer.

21st February 2008 CSCI refuse to investigate formal complaints of neglect, humiliation and breaches of the Care Homes Regulations prompting a stage one formal complaint to CSCI's head office.

4th February 2008 Another attempt to cover up the neglect and humiliation that was handed out to David Edgar's elderly mother was swiftly dismissed when he told social workers from Telford and Wrekin Council to leave the meeting in which they were attempting to perform yet another amateurish cover up. CSCI were then put on notice to deal with the formal complaints that had been made to them .

4th February 2008 Senior Care Worker commences legal action against Norwich Union and HSBC bank PLC following their refusal to honour their payment protection insurance, in addition a formal complaint has been made to the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the Financial Ombudsman Service about their race discrimination policies.

18th January 2008 Following a formal request on the 14th January 2008 pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 the Immigration Minister then publishes the Updated guidance for Senior Care Workers four days later.

14th January 2008 Following a number of unfair dismissal claims against Southern Cross Healthcare the first case came before the Manchester Employment Tribunal on Monday whereby the matter was subsequently set down for a five day hearing later this year. Further hearings regarding other claims will be heard later in the year.

14th January 2008 Since the Border and Immigration Agency are still continuing to withhold details of the new updated guidance for Senior Care Workers Mr. Liam Byrne the Immigration Minister was today served with a formal request pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

8th January 2008 Having reminded CSCI to investigate the formal complaints of neglect and humiliation which David Edgar's elderly mother was subjected to they then passed the buck to social workers from Telford & Wrekin Council.

Although the there has been no official statement from the Home Office since changing the rules on the 12th December 2007 (updated guidance for Senior Care Workers) it was confirmed today (verbally) by the Work Permit Section that they are aware of the new rules and will be applying them to all new Work Permit Applications for Senior Care Workers.

Senior Care Workers may switch to an other employer who is willing to pay the going rate of £7.02 even where the post does not meet the skills criteria.

Those Senior Care Workers who joined the scheme at the beginning of 2003 and are still employed by their existing employer are to be given one year's extension waiving both the skills criteria and the going rate requirement.

As there are no requirements for agents or lawyers the procedures are as follows:

Existing Employer: Employer applies for Work Permit Extension utilising Form WP1X , the employer pays the one off fee of £190 to the Home Office.

Once approved the Employee then applies for Leave to Remain (varied) utilising Form FLR(IED) the employee pays a one off fee of £350 to the Home Office.

Prospective Employer: Employer applies for Work Permit utilising Form WP1, the employer pays the one off fee of £190 to the Home Office.

Once approved the Employee then applies for Leave to Remain (varied) utilising Form FLR(IED) the employee pays a one off fee of £350 to the Home Office.

19th December 2007 Following formal complaints of neglect and humiliation to David Edgar's elderly mother Southern Cross Healthcare then subject her to further misery by ignoring her, they then proceed to cover up the formal complaints that were made earlier in December 2007. CSCI was then reminded that they had failed to investigate the formal complaints made to them.

Beleaguered Minister Liam Byrne finally backs down following an unprecedented outrage at his plans to deport thousands of Philippine Senior Care Workers.

Following David Edgar's High Court challenge in November 2007 which subsequently exposed the Minister's immigration rule changes had no basis in law and the relentless pressure from many MP's led by Mrs Dunwoody MP the Minister finally amended the rules (again) whereby Senior Care Workers can now apply for vacancies with new employers who are willing to pay the new hourly rate, this now presents a golden opportunity for those Senior Care Workers who can now escape Southern Cross and their low pay rates.

WARNING Since changing the rules the cowboys have moved in offering jobs therefore be very cautious about parting with your money because securing a job only needs an employer who has a genuine vacancy for a Senior Care Worker and is willing to pay the new rate and they (the employer) will take care of the Work Permit costs, no one else is required.

12th December 2007 David Edgar's elderly mother continues to be neglected and humiliated therefore a formal complaint was made against Southern Cross to the Commission for Social Care Inspection regarding their care home in Newport (Cottage Christian Residential and Nursing Home).

7th December 2007 Southern Cross unlawfully instruct DONHOST web hosting company (now being sued for damages) to remove probonopinoy site as clearly the truth is beginning to hurt. Steps were then taken to re-launch this site with an off shore facility where they or their chums cannot interfere with free speech.

MP Gwyneth Dunwoody has taken a special interest in the plight of the threatened deportations of Senior Carers and took Immigration Minister Byrne to task over the dreadful treatment of Filipino Senior Carers

Following Mrs Dunwoody's Early day Motion which was supported by 35 MP's Liam Byrne M

P the Secretary of State for Immigration will today be meeting officials from the Border and Immigration Agency and the Department of Health along with Senior Care Worker employers in an effort to resolve the Work Permit issues which are currently preventing highly skilled Senior Care Workers who are desperately needed from being re-employed . Next week Mrs Dunwoody and her Parliamentary colleagues will then meet with Mr. Byrne to discuss the matters further.

14th November 2007: High Court dismiss Judicial Review claim on the grounds that "the Claimant has (allegedly) no interest in the matter?" (See Skeleton Argument) Subsequently a multiparty action will now be filed against the UK government with respect to human rights abuses of thousands of Senior Care Workers, this will be via the European Court of Human in Strasburg.

During the hearing David Edgar was approached by Counsel for the Home Office and asked to discontinue his claim as it was revealed that a similar application for Judicial Review had also been filed and served by a Care Association who were represented by specialist solicitors and barristers (QC's). David Edgar then refused to withdraw his claim as to do so would mean giving up, something he was not familiar with.

During the hearing David Edgar pushed the Barrister representing the Home Office to identify the legislation on which it based its decision to amend the Work Permit rules, after much waffle it became blatantly clear that that there was no such legislation therefore the Home Office are once again exposed as incompetent, weak and vulnerable to the second JR challenge.

In view of this important discovery David Edgar then contacted the Care Association and offered not only his support for their case but also offered all of his is prima facia evidence , the Care Association then welcomed the move and immediately put him in touch with their lawyers, following a long discussion with the specialist lawyers it has now been agreed that his evidence will be fully considered and presented to Counsel for their valued opinion.

14th November 2007: Southern Cross threaten legal action if probonopinoy continues to publish the truth.......

Before LORD JUSTICE THOMAS and MRS JUSTICE DOBBS

Tuesday 13 November, 2007
At half past 10

APPLICATION
CO/7251/2007 The Queen on the application of Edgar v Minister Of State For Immigration

7th November 2007: David Edgar's elderly mother subjected to neglect and humiliation by Southern Cross, complaints made to manager of the Cottage Christian Residential and Nursing Home (Newport) but neglect and humiliation continue.

5th November 2007: Southern Cross Share value takes a dive following the undercover story

which exposed abuse and neglect at one of their care homes thus the share values fell by 7% which then wiped £70 million off the of the company share value overnight.

4th November 2007: Southern Cross Healthcare exposed by undercover reporter from Sunday Times .....read the horrific story of continual abuse and neglect due to severe shortages of skilled Senior Care Workers.

3rd November 2007: Liam Byrne the Immigration Minister is now under even more pressure as the High Court grants a preliminary hearing to David Edgar with respect to his Application for a Judicial Review.

Case: CO/7251/2007 will be heard at the Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London on Tuesday 13th November 2007.

3rd November 2007: A further 12 MP's join Mrs Dunwoody's campaign now bringing the total to 36.

29th October 2007 Prime Minister Gordon Brown accuses Southern Cross of breaching the Work Permit rules when applying for Work Permits for none EU Senior Care Workers.

26th October 2007: Donations to our Fighting Fund to help Senior Care Workers can now be officially received as

23rd October 2007: Mrs Gwyneth Dunwoody MP for Crewe and 24 of her fellow MP's launched a scathing attack on

Liam Byrne the Immigration Minister today when she accused him and the Home Office of ignoring her and her fellow Members of Parliament's grave concerns with respect to many hundreds of Philippine Senior Care Workers who as a result of a Home Office imposed hourly rate now find themselves unemployed and facing deportation when at the same time many care homes are desperate to employ the highly skilled and experienced Senior Care Workers. Mr. Byrne who appeared to be taken back by the scale and ferocity of the attack finally agreed to a private meeting with Mrs Dunwoody and her parliamentary colleagues, David Edgar who has been campaigning for the Philippine Care Workers and who has assisted Mrs Dunwoody by providing background information said he was very impressed with Mrs Dunwoody's courage in fighting for her constituents and now she and her colleagues had provided some hope for the many Senior Care Workers who quite frankly had been put through hell during the past three months, he further commented that it is now hoped that Mr. Byrne will now do the right thing and remove the artificial barriers and allow Work Permits to be granted to Senior Care Workers who apply for positions which are available at care homes who are prepared to pay the new hourly rate.

This is the official site of Pro Bono Pinoy, it has been created by David Edgar a retired Consultant Engineer who in July 2007 was approached by three distraught Philippine Senior Care Workers from the Cottage Christian Nursing Home in Newport Shropshire where his elderly mother was being cared for, following a leaked memo the Philippine ladies who are qualified mid wives and who had provided four years of loyal service to their employer, Southern Cross Healthcare PLC (the largest care providers in the UK with 570 care homes) they learnt that their employer had decided not back them in trying to renew their Work Permits and despite offering to pay the application fees themselves they were then ignored until September 2007 when they were finally discarded, shortly thereafter Unison their trade union also abandoned them.

This site is dedicated to those three Philippine ladies and the many thousands of other Philippine Senior Care Workers and a number of Indian Senior Care Workers who Southern Cross Healthcare have also discarded, its purpose is to offer Pro Bono (free) general advice and signposting in the areas of immigration, re- employment and legal issues, the site is also the home of a fighting fund (currently being set up) which will provide funds for helping Philippine Care Workers to find work with those smaller care home groups who wish to staff their care homes with properly qualified, experienced and highly motivated Philippine Care Workers.

The simple answer to that is everything they are asked to! they will regularly work 60 hours a week for just over the national minimum wage of £5.35 per hour, this will include both day and night shifts, they unlike most do not take "sicky's" as they are dedicated to their elderly residents, whilst severely understaffed (this being an unlawful act under the Care Home Regulations) they are expected to care for many elderly people who have high dependency needs, their work is dirty, demanding and very physical however because of their unique Philippine character and culture they tirelessly provide quality care to the elderly.

Simple: The so-called care industry has been grossly under funded since its conception therefore with very low rates of pay and hard working conditions the resident workforce are not interested, this is why in 2003 the Home Office set up a Small Business Unit to encourage businesses to recruit skilled none EU workers to fill the care vacancies that no one else wants.

Southern Cross Healthcare are a billion pound company, they own 570 care homes and are still acquiring more, thus their share values continue to accelerate to even higher levels, their highest paid director receives £601,000 per year. Since the care industry has a long track record of being inadequately funded because of very low hourly rates and hard working conditions severe shortages of Care Workers became a real problem in 2002 so Southern Cross Healthcare then hired agents in the Philippines to recruit thousands of qualified personnel therefore since 2003 many thousands of Philippine workers came to the UK on the promise of a better life and a secure future, they were encouraged to bring their spouses and young children with them, buy properties and start their own families here in the UK, despite being told that the company would pay for everything many Philippine workers were then exploited by the unscrupulous agents into paying several thousands pounds just to get on Southern Cross Healthcare's employment list.

Following secret talks between Southern Cross Healthcare and the Border and Immigration Agency in January 2007 a master plan was then conceived whereby Work Permits would no longer be granted for Senior Care Workers, this draconian measure would then go on to seriously affect thousands of Philippine Senior Care Workers and their families and of course the elderly who depend upon skilled care workers for quality care, the master plan instructed employers to recruit new staff from the European Union, unfortunately the Border and Immigration Agency failed to understand that this area of the employment market had long been exploited thus it soon became obvious that only none English speaking workers with no qualifications or experience in elderly care were left in the EU however undeterred by this minor problem the Border and Immigration Agency then in January insisted they would no longer issue extension Work Permits for the many thousands of Philippine Senior Care Workers who at the UK's invitation had settled here four years ago and had provided care to the elderly which the indigenous population refused to even consider.

Although the Border and Immigration Agency made it clear that they would no longer be renewing Work Permits they none the less continued taking application fees of £190 knowing that Work Permits would not be issued, they also made it clear that they had a none refunding policy.

Although Southern Cross were well aware that Work Permit applications would not be issued to their Philippine Senior Care Workers they none the less chose to withhold this information until early July 2007 when an internal memo was leaked and Senor Care Workers then learnt that Southern Cross Healthcare were not intending to apply for Work Permit extensions.

Despite sending a letter of concern to Southern Cross Healthcare requesting them to back their loyal Philippine workforce they chose to ignore it, this attitude of indifference continued when they also ignored many more requests from their Philippine Senior Care Workers, concerned elderly residents and their relatives, the same concerns were then raised with the Prime Minister, Mr. Gordon Brown, the Philippine President, Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the Philippine Ambassador in London, their respective responses are published. It should also be noted that Southern Cross Healthcare are no stranger to unfairness when in March 2005 the Office of Fair Trading instructed them to amend their contacts which were deemed to be unfair and unclear to residents and their families.

Although the PM passed the concerns to the Border and Immigration Agency they then ignored the same therefore on the 30th July 2007 Mr. Tony McNulty, the Minister of State for Immigration and Southern Cross healthcare were put on notice of an application for a Judicial Review and Interim Injunction.

Following the legal notice and many more voices of concerns including a damning report by a committee of MP's Southern Cross Healthcare then published a statement purporting to be concerned.

Having then ignored the legal notice an urgent application for a Judicial Review and Interim Injunction was on the 10th August 2007 filed with the Administrative Court Office (High Court) and served upon the Secretary of State for Immigration and Southern Cross Healthcare.

Having received the Judicial Review and Interim Injunction application on the 13th August 2007 at 13.30 hours the Secretary of State for Immigration then at 15.20 hours the same day instructed the Borders and Immigration Agency to back down and introduce new rules which allowed employers to reapply for extension Work Permits for all "in county" Senior Care Workers however the new rules also included a qualifying condition that all employers must "offer" all Senior Care Workers a new hourly rate of £7.02 .

Whilst this increase in hourly rate was most welcome by the many Philippine Senior Care Workers who had worked for four years receiving just above the national minimum wage of £5.35 per hour and was accepted by many of the smaller care home groups the billion pound Southern Cross Healthcare took issue with this rise and refused to pay it and although it had been pointed out to the directors that the new rules only stated that it had to be "offered" it was suggested that in order to reduce the impact of the rise in operational costs it could have been introduced over a prolonged period of time however the directors ignored this way forward, blamed the UK government and then proceeded to fire all Philippine Senior Care Workers without any statutory written notices, then, contrary Sections 18 and 19 of the mandatory Care Home Regulations 2001, incited their care home mangers to break the law by instructing them to operate the care homes whilst grossly understaffed thus exposing their own care home mangers to criminal prosecutions, meanwhile frantic attempts were then made to advertise on their own web site and with employment agencies for EU care workers to replace experienced and qualified Senior Care Workers with none qualified, inexperienced and in most cases, none English speaking personnel the likes of who were then subsequently hired before they had even been cleared by mandatory police checks thus operating their business in this unlawful way rendered their mandatory insurance invalid.

Although Southern Cross Healthcare claimed that the UK government were to blame for the crisis they made no attempts to legally challenge these issues therefore on the 4th September 2007 the original urgent application for a Judicial Review and Interim Injunction were amended , filed and served with respect to challenging the legal basis of the UK government's authority of imposing pay rates on private industry whilst at the same time creating racial discrimination with respect to different pay rates for the same work irrespective of changing job titles.

Meanwhile the conspiracy continued as the Borders and Immigration Agency then moved the goal posts yet again by attempting to block Senior Care Workers from being re-employed by willing employers who desperately needed skilled care staff and who were prepared to pay the new hourly rate.

Member of Parliament for Crewe, Mrs Gwyneth Dunwoody MP, raised her grave concerns with Home Office.

Since the three Philippine Senior Care Workers have now lost their jobs they have commenced their own legal actions against Southern Cross Healthcare with respect to breaches of contract and racial prejudice, in additions they have also made formal complaints to the Information Commissioner against Southern Cross Healthcare and the Borders and Immigration Agency for ignoring their legal rights to have copies of their personal data, other Philippine care workers are also taking similar legal action.

Since the Cottage Christian Nursing Home has now lost 3 of its skilled care workers real concerns exist for the elderly residents therefore a formal request was made to the Commission for Social Care Inspection to have an independent lay assessor (now called an Expert by Experience) to be present at the next care home inspection in October 2007 however there does appear to be some reluctance by the CSCI to allow such transparency?

8th October 2007: Administrative Court Office respectfully reminded of the urgency of Application for Judicial Review.

17th October 2007: Having now fired many Senior Care Workers reports of chronic staff shortages are now being received, also many of those Senior Care Workers who are still employed are complaining of widespread intimidation by their managers as they are forced to travel long distances to other care homes where they are then intimidated into to working excessively long hours in a futile attempt to keep the care homes operating lawfully.

18th October 2007: Formal complaint made against Administrative Court Office as they continue to ignore urgent Application for Judicial Review.

9th October 2007: Having already included as an "interested party" to an Application for a Judicial Review in early August 2007 Southern Cross Healthcare then ignore this opportunity to challenge the government's controversial Work Permit policies however now faced with chronic staff shortages they have finally realised that their master plan of calling the government's bluff has clearly back fired therefore with cap in hand they have now amended their attitude from a "disinterested party" to an "interested party" by hastily joining a last minute legal challenge with respect to the Judicial Review.

24th October 2007: More unemployed Senior Care Workers commence legal actions against Southern Cross Healthcare for unfair and constructive dismissal.