Recommendation 37

The Home Office has met its service standards for processing sponsor licences within eight weeks, with the average processing time falling from 44 days in 2023 to 34 days in 2024.104 However, the Home Office does not have reliable data on the distribution of processing times, which means it does not fully understand its performance.105 Written evidence from the Homecare Association, Care England, the Confederation of British Industry and ILPA indicates that sponsors face major problems with delays, impacting their ability to recruit efficiently. 106