Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 27
37th Report - Immigration: Skilled worker visas
Published 4 Jul 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Immigration: Skilled worker visas All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
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 of helplines.74 However, the National Audit Office report found the Home Office was not able to provide data on the number of referrals relating to people with a Skilled Worker visa. UNISON stated that immigration enforcement and lack of firewalls 64 C&AG’s Report, para 15 65 Q 51 66 IMM003; IMM0024 67 Qq 43, 60 68 Qq 10, 51 69 Q 60 70 Q 59 71 IMM0014 72 Home Office, Restoring Control over the Immigration System, May 2025, para 81 73 IMM0005, IMM0007, IMM0009, IMM0024 74 Qq 59-61 19 between departments has damaged the government’s work to tackle modern slavery, leaving victims facing deportation rather than receiving appropriate support.75 Tackling non-compliance with visa rules
From: Public Accounts Committee, 37th Report - Immigration: Skilled worker visas (HC 819), 4 July 2025
Government response
Latest Treasury Minutes progress report to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Thirty-seventh Report of Session 2024-26
The government responded to the whole report on 4 June 2026 (deadline 4 September 2025).
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Thirty-seventh report from Session 2024-26
Published 15 October 2025.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government agrees with the Committee's recommendations on labour market evidence, evaluation, care workers, exploitation and compliance, but disagrees with the recommendation on customer service.
- On sector workforce analysis, it agrees that other departments should provide more rigorous analysis, with a target implementation date of July 2026, and says the Labour Market Evidence Group "will further strengthen collaboration" between the Home Office and departments leading on labour market and skills.
- It agrees to set out its evaluation of the Skilled Worker route, with a target date of October 2025, stating that the evaluation was published alongside the Immigration White Paper on 12 May.
- On exploitation, it agrees with the recommendation (target date April 2027) and says an update to the Committee is planned for April 2027, "one year after its creation" of the Fair Work Agency.
- It disagrees with the customer service recommendation, stating the Home Office "is committed to continuous improvement in customer service standards" and that it monitors key indicators.