Recommendations & Conclusions
25 items
2
Conclusion
37th Report - Immigration: Skilled work…
Accepted
The Home Office has not had a full understanding of how immigration has helped to address skill shortages or the unintended consequences of the much higher than anticipated use of the Skilled Worker route. More people have used the Skilled Worker visa route than the Home Office anticipated in 2020. …
Government response. The government agrees and has set out the results of its Skilled Worker route evaluation, detailing motivations for applicants and businesses, benefits to employers, and the importance of dependants. It also acknowledged a potential unintended consequence regarding some individuals' reported …
HM Treasury
3
Conclusion
37th Report - Immigration: Skilled work…
Accepted
The Home Office opened the Skilled Worker visa route for social care workers quickly and failed to understand the risks. In 2022, the Home Office eased entry requirements for care workers to help the social care sector respond to vacancies created by the COVID-19 pandemic. It moved quickly to expand …
Government response. The government agrees, stating that DHSC uses monthly tracking and annual estimates of demographics to monitor trends in the adult social care workforce. However, the response does not provide detail on the decision to end overseas recruitment for care workers …
HM Treasury
4
Conclusion
37th Report - Immigration: Skilled work…
Accepted
The cross-government response to tackling the exploitation of migrant workers has been insufficient and, within this, the Home Office’s response has been slow and ineffective. Concerns about the exploitation of migrant workers are well understood and have been raised previously by the Committee. Tackling this exploitation needs a cross-government response …
Government response. The government agrees and has established a working group on exploitation in the construction sector, committing to an update by April 2027 upon the Fair Work Agency's launch. UKVI has also taken specific steps to safeguard care workers impacted by …
HM Treasury
5
Conclusion
37th Report - Immigration: Skilled work…
Accepted
The Home Office does not understand the extent to which people are complying with the terms of their visa and leaving the United Kingdom when they should. The Home Office did not assess how the risks of non-compliance with visa rules would change when the Skilled Worker route was introduced …
Government response. The government agrees and is forming a dedicated unit to leverage HMRC data for sponsorship checks, planning improvements for bulk processing, and testing new tools for organisational data and sponsor personnel checks, with a new tool launching Autumn 2025. It …
HM Treasury
1
Conclusion
37th Report - Immigration: Skilled work…
Accepted
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Home Office on its management and operation of the Skilled Worker visa route.1
Government response. The government agrees, outlining that key sectors reliant on overseas recruitment must produce workforce strategies, and the MAC will only recommend occupations for the TSL if effective plans are in place. The MAC's work on the TSL is expected to …
HM Treasury
9
Conclusion
37th Report - Immigration: Skilled work…
Accepted
When considering the design of the Skilled Worker visa route, the Home Office told us it is important to have the best sectoral workforce analysis and get the balance right between the domestic labour market and migration. It also acknowledged the need to reflect government policy on net migration.14 The …
Government response. The government agrees and aims for implementation by December 2025, committing to strengthen collaboration on labour market and skills through the Labour Market Evidence Group (LMEG) and developing guidance for sector experts to create workforce strategies.
HM Treasury
10
Recommendation
37th Report - Immigration: Skilled work…
Accepted
Despite this, we were concerned that collaboration was not effective and that there had been insufficient consideration of the impacts of rule changes. In particular, we were not convinced that there had been sufficient collaboration between the Home Office and departments on the role of immigration in sectoral workforce strategies.17 …
Government response. The government agrees with the recommendation to improve collaboration and understanding of the Skilled Worker route across the UK, setting a target date of December 2025. It will use the Labour Market Evidence Group (LMEG) to strengthen cross-government collaboration and …
HM Treasury
11
Conclusion
37th Report - Immigration: Skilled work…
Accepted
In July 2024, the government announced plans to develop closer links between immigration policy and sectoral labour market policies.21 The Home Office said this would lead to a better understanding of how to flex Skilled Worker visas.22 This includes bringing together bodies such as Skills England and equivalent organisations in …
Government response. The government agrees and aims for implementation by December 2025, committing to strengthen collaboration on labour market and skills through the Labour Market Evidence Group (LMEG) and developing guidance for sector experts to create workforce strategies.
HM Treasury
12
Conclusion
37th Report - Immigration: Skilled work…
Accepted
The number of people who have used the Skilled Worker visa route is much higher than the Home Office originally expected, driven by large increases in the number of Health and Care Worker visas.26 The Home Office forecast that it would issue 360,000 Skilled Worker visas to people entering the …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's observation and refers to its already published evaluation of the Skilled Worker visa route. This evaluation provides insights into visa holder motivations, business benefits, and potential unintended consequences regarding reported salaries.
HM Treasury
14
Conclusion
37th Report - Immigration: Skilled work…
Accepted
The Home Office has not completed an evaluation of the use of Skilled Worker visas since 2022, which was too early to provide a full view of impacts and pre-dated the significant changes to the route in 2022 and 2024.30 As a result, it does not have a full understanding …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's implicit recommendation for an evaluation but states it has already published its evaluation of the Skilled Worker visa route on May 12th. The response summarises some findings regarding motivations for coming to the UK …
HM Treasury
15
Conclusion
37th Report - Immigration: Skilled work…
Accepted
In 2022, the government eased entry requirements for care workers to help the social care sector address skill shortages and respond to the demands created by the COVID-19 pandemic.34 By the end of 2024, 648,100 people, including 389,600 dependants, had applied for a Health and Care Worker visa since the …
Government response. The government states it agrees with the committee's observation. It notes that DHSC already monitors trends in the size and demographics of the care workforce using various intelligence sources and commits to writing separately to the Committee on this point.
HM Treasury
17
Conclusion
37th Report - Immigration: Skilled work…
Accepted
The Home Office acknowledged that it could have done more to understand the way the care sector is structured and assess the potential risks, given that it was extending a model designed for highly skilled workers to a different demographic.38 The Home Office said it quickly identified significant issues with …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's implicit recommendation for greater understanding of the care sector, committing to write separately to the committee by October 2025 and July 2028. It also notes that DHSC already monitors trends in the size and …
HM Treasury
18
Recommendation
37th Report - Immigration: Skilled work…
Accepted
We remain concerned, however, that the Home Office has not done enough to tackle unethical practices and the exploitation of migrant workers in the social care sector.42 Evidence provided by UNISON highlighted that some employers were exploiting workers’ vulnerability, making them work excessive hours and remain on call during their …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's recommendation to tackle exploitation. It describes ongoing collaborations and a working group, which will continue as the Fair Work Agency is launched by April 2027, to address abuse and exploitation. UKVI has also taken …
HM Treasury
21
Conclusion
37th Report - Immigration: Skilled work…
Accepted
The Skilled Worker visa system is based on a sponsorship model where a migrant’s right to remain in the United Kingdom is dependent on their employer.49 This reliance makes migrant workers vulnerable to exploitation, and there is widespread evidence of workers suffering debt bondage, working excessive hours and exploitative conditions.50 …
Government response. The government agrees and aims for implementation by April 2027, outlining collaboration with various bodies, establishing a working group for the construction sector, launching the Fair Work Agency by April 2027, and taking steps to protect care workers from exploitation.
HM Treasury
22
Conclusion
37th Report - Immigration: Skilled work…
Accepted
We asked the Home Office what steps it was taking to reduce the risks of exploitation of migrant workers.53 The Home Office said exploitation was a systemic problem that cannot be tackled through enforcement of immigration rules alone, although it accepted that it had a role to play. The Home …
Government response. The government agrees and aims for implementation by April 2027, detailing its collaboration with enforcement bodies, the establishment of a working group for the construction sector, the planned launch of the Fair Work Agency by April 2027, and steps taken …
HM Treasury
23
Conclusion
37th Report - Immigration: Skilled work…
Accepted
The Home Office seeks to identify sponsors not behaving appropriately. In 2023, it began to apply its genuine vacancy test more rigorously, scrutinising employers to ensure they had guaranteed work for applicants.56 The Home Office also said every employer is expected to do their own compliance checks when they are …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's concerns regarding sponsor compliance. It describes ongoing collaborations and a working group to address exploitation, which will continue as the Fair Work Agency is launched by April 2027. UKVI has also taken steps to …
HM Treasury
24
Conclusion
37th Report - Immigration: Skilled work…
Accepted
There is evidence that applicants have been charged extortionate fees for Skilled Worker visas in their home countries, before they come to the United Kingdom. UNISON provided us with details of its survey, which found that, of 3,000 people who came to work in the care sector, 15% had paid …
Government response. The government agrees to combat exploitation by collaborating with various enforcement bodies, establishing a working group for the construction sector, and launching a Fair Work Agency by April 2027, alongside steps to protect care workers and support regional partnerships.
HM Treasury
25
Conclusion
37th Report - Immigration: Skilled work…
Accepted
If an applicant loses their employment with a sponsor, or their sponsor’s licence is revoked, their visa is limited to 60 days to find employment with a new sponsor.62 After this, they are not legally entitled to stay in the United Kingdom unless they find an alternative employer to sponsor …
Government response. UKVI has taken steps to protect care workers affected by sponsor licence revocations, using discretionary powers not to cancel leave and instead directing them to regional partnerships for alternative employment. This approach was adopted due to the high level of …
HM Treasury
26
Conclusion
37th Report - Immigration: Skilled work…
Accepted
The Home Office has been working with 15 regional partnerships— established by DHSC—to support care workers who lose their employment if their sponsor’s licence is revoked.67 These arrangements seek to enable care workers to find new employers by matching them to genuine care providers with vacancies in their local area.68 …
Government response. The Home Office continues to support international recruitment regional partnerships and has commissioned evaluations of the regional fund for 2023-24 and 2024-25, with findings expected in 2025 and 2026, to assess their effectiveness.
HM Treasury
27
Conclusion
37th Report - Immigration: Skilled work…
Accepted
UNISON, Central England Law Centre, the Cavendish Coalition and FLEX provided written evidence which raised concerns about the risks of migrant workers becoming victims of modern slavery.73 The Home Office told us that it has modern slavery provisions in place to support affected people, and provides displaced workers with details …
Government response. The government agrees to address risks of modern slavery by collaborating with various enforcement bodies, establishing a working group for the construction sector, and launching the Fair Work Agency by April 2027, to ensure individuals work for reputable sponsors.
HM Treasury
28
Conclusion
37th Report - Immigration: Skilled work…
Accepted
The Home Office did not conduct a thorough assessment of compliance risks when the Skilled Worker route was introduced in 2020 and did not re-assess risks when the route was expanded to include care workers in 2022.76 We asked why the Home Office seemed to have shown little curiosity about …
Government response. The government agrees to improve compliance risk assessments, continuously updating sector-specific risks, using digital tools for alerts, forming a dedicated unit for salary checks with HMRC data, and introducing a new tool in Autumn 2025 to enhance checks on sponsor …
HM Treasury
29
Conclusion
37th Report - Immigration: Skilled work…
Accepted
After the route’s expansion to include care workers in 2022, the Home Office began to identify concerns with the use of the route, including intelligence referrals from Border Force that people arriving in the UK with a Health and Care Worker visa didn’t speak English or were not aware where …
Government response. The government agrees to continuously update sector-specific risk assessments, utilise digital tools for risk alerts, form a dedicated unit for salary and employment checks, and introduce new tools by Autumn 2025 to improve checks on sponsor personnel and enhance compliance.
HM Treasury
31
Conclusion
37th Report - Immigration: Skilled work…
Accepted
We asked the Home Office whether there was sufficient scrutiny to tackle the level of non-compliance with visa rules. In particular, we noted the decrease in the number of full-time equivalent compliance officers in the Home Office, which fell from 65.5 in 2021 to 46 in 2024, and asked whether …
Government response. The government agrees and will implement several measures by March 2027, including continuously updating risk assessments, using digital tools for risk alerts, forming a dedicated unit for salary and employment checks, and introducing a new tool in Autumn 2025 to …
HM Treasury
32
Conclusion
37th Report - Immigration: Skilled work…
Accepted
We asked the Home Office whether it knows if people leave the country when their visa expires. The Home Office told us the only way that it can tell if people are still in the country is to match the data it holds on individuals with the passenger data it …
Government response. The government is implementing eVisas and Electronic Travel Authorisations (ETAs) to improve data quality on arrivals and departures, and is developing a new digital service to track visa compliance and empower Immigration Enforcement to act against illegal overstayers and workers.
HM Treasury
39
Conclusion
37th Report - Immigration: Skilled work…
Accepted
Written evidence from the Homecare Association, ILPA, British Future and Kings College London, the Cavendish Coalition, the Confederation of British Industry, the Law Society and Care England sets out concerns with the application process. They highlighted issues such as complicated and lengthy guidance, the complex sponsorship system and poor customer …
Government response. The government disagrees with the implied recommendation but states it is committed to continuous improvement in customer service, is improving channels for customers to seek progress, and has recently launched a visa processing times tool for self-service updates.
HM Treasury