Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
37th Report - Immigration: Skilled worker visas
Public Accounts Committee
HC 819
Published 4 July 2025
Recommendations
8
Not Addressed
Home Office impact assessments for Skilled Worker visa route changes remain insufficient.
Recommendation
While changes to immigration rules are subject to collective government agreement, the Home Office is responsible for designing and implementing immigration policy.10 We asked the Home Office what work it had done to assess the impacts of changes to the …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the committee's recommendation but its response focuses on strengthening cross-government collaboration on labour market and skills through the Labour Market Evidence Group (LMEG) and the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC). It does not directly address the specific recommendation to improve impact assessments by including success criteria, evaluation plans, and compliance risks.
HM Treasury
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Conclusions (3)
7
Conclusion
Since 2021, the government has made a series of changes to entry requirements for Skilled Worker visas. In 2022, it expanded the route to respond to the needs of the care sector.7 In Spring 2024, the government tightened entry requirements for Skilled Worker visas to help reduce net migration.8 The …
30
Conclusion
Not Addressed
We were concerned, however, that the Home Office did not fully understand commissioning arrangements in the care sector, which means it can be difficult for care providers to prove that they have guaranteed vacancies. In written evidence, the Homecare Association said that the disconnect between commissioning practices and visa requirements …
Government Response Summary
The government response cuts off mid-sentence and does not engage with the committee's concern that the Home Office does not fully understand commissioning arrangements in the care sector.
37
Conclusion
Not Addressed
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 …
Government Response Summary
The government's response outlines its commitment to delivering an immigration system and testing a new sponsorship system, along with investing in the existing one. However, it does not directly address the committee's observation about the lack of reliable data on processing times for sponsor licences or understanding its performance.