Public Accounts Committee says Home Office failed to assess route's risks, including exploitation of workers and non-compliance with visa conditions
In a report published last week, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) criticised the Home Office's lack of oversight and understanding of the Skilled Worker visa route.
Image credit: WikipediaYou can download the 36-page report here or read it online here.
The Skilled Worker visa route was opened in December 2020. Up to the end of 2024, 1.18 million people applied to enter the UK through the route, including 648,100 applications on a Health and Care Worker visa following the route's expansion in 2022.
Overall in its inquiry, PAC finds that the Home Office failed to properly assess risks associated with the Skilled Worker route, including the exploitation of migrant workers and non-compliance with visa conditions. The department has not analysed exit data and has not tracked whether those who lose sponsorship are taken on by other employers or remain in the UK without legal status.
The report states: "The Home Office made changes to the Skilled Worker visa route without a full assessment of the risks or potential impacts …. It made changes to the route quickly – such as expanding the route to support the social care sector in 2022 – and with insufficient collaboration with other departments on the role that immigration should play in sectoral workforce strategies. Nearly three times more people used the route in the first three years than the Home Office expected, but it has not evaluated whether the route was meeting its objectives, or how the use of the route varied across different sectors or regions."
Expressing concern at the lack of a proper evaluation, PAC said the Home Office appeared to have shown little curiosity about how the route was functioning or the extent to which individuals were exploiting loopholes and weaknesses in the system.
As the report highlights, the Skilled Worker visa system ties a migrant's immigration status to their employer, a model that can increase the risk of exploitation. Evidence submitted to the inquiry points to cases of debt bondage, long hours, and poor working conditions among visa holders. Although the Home Office has introduced measures to improve oversight, including a tightening of its genuine vacancy test in 2023, PAC expressed doubts about their effectiveness.
The Committee said: "We were not convinced by the Home Office's approach, highlighting that sponsors who may be involved in illegal practices are less likely to comply with the necessary checks and that many sponsors had received licences before the Home Office strengthened its controls. The Home Office was unable to tell us how many of these sponsors had been subject to its compliance checks."
In addition, the Committee expressed concern that the Home Office has not done enough to tackle unethical practices and the exploitation of migrant workers in the social care sector. PAC called on the Home Office to coordinate with other government bodies to improve its response to labour exploitation. It recommended setting clear responsibilities, reviewing the effectiveness of regional support schemes, strengthening reporting channels, and ensuring safeguards are in place for migrants affected by revoked sponsor licences.
PAC's inquiry also found that the Home Office lacks a clear understanding of what happens when Skilled Worker visas expire, having not analysed exit data since the route began. It does not know how many people leave the UK or remain in the country, working unlawfully. Efforts to match care workers with new sponsors through regional 'hubs' were criticised by PAC for being ineffective, with the Home Office unable to provide evidence of how well these are working. While the Home Office acknowledges these gaps, it says improvements may come through future digital border reforms and continues to rely on employer checks and targeted enforcement to address illegal working.
Cross-government collaboration in relation to the design and operation of the Skilled Worker route was criticised by the Committee as ineffective, with insufficient consideration of the impacts of changes to the Immigration Rules. "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," the Committee said.
On the plus side, PCA found the Home Office has performed well in processing straightforward Skilled Worker visa applications. According to the report, 94% of these cases were processed within the Home Office's service standards in 2023 and 2024. Although initially falling short of its 98.5% target, officials claimed in May that this standard was now being met. The department has also improved processing times for sponsor licence applications, reducing the average from 44 days in 2023 to 34 days in 2024.
However, written evidence from industry bodies highlights persistent issues for sponsors, including delays that hinder recruitment. Organisations such as the Homecare Association and Care England flagged problems with complex guidance, a burdensome sponsorship system, and limited customer support. The Home Office's current customer satisfaction target of 80% implies acceptance of significant dissatisfaction, PAC noted, while over half of complaints relate to the inability to track application progress in real time.
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, Chair of the Committee, said the Government must develop a deeper understanding of the role that immigration plays in sector workforce strategies, and how domestic workforce plans can help tackle skills shortages. Clifton-Brown warned that without a better understanding and effective cross-government working, forthcoming changes to the Immigration Rules ending the overseas recruitment of care workers risk exacerbating challenges for the care sector.