Recommendation 40

We asked the Home Office about progress with efforts to transform the sponsorship system, which include the development of IT systems. The Home Office has delayed replacement of the sponsorship system from 2023 to 2028 and accepted that its existing system is not as good as it should be.112 The Home Office told us that the planned transformation was delayed due to the lack of basic infrastructure, the large amount of transformation taking place across the department, and its prioritisation of competing demands, such as eVisas and launch of the Ukraine visa routes. It hopes to roll-out the sponsorship system over the next two to three years.113 The Home Office also needs to address operational issues with the IT system used for processing visa applications and make further changes to provide full functionality and management information.114 110 IMM0004; IMM0019; IMM0020; IMM0009; IMM0010 111 Q58; C&AG’s report, para 3.9 112 Qq 55-57; C&AG’s Report, para 3.12 113 Q 57 114 C&AG’s Report, para 12 25