Home Office asked to evaluate within three months why it issued three time more skilled worker visas

LONDON March 23: The National Audit Office (NAO) urges the UK government to promptly identify the underlying factors contributing to the rapid increase in worker visas, emphasizing a need for better oversight of a program central to the nation’s ongoing migration discourse.

The Home Office has yet to provide an explanation for the UK issuing approximately three times more skilled worker visas than initially projected in 2020, as reported by the NAO. Furthermore, significant efforts to curtail the program were executed last year with minimal research into the potential consequences on businesses, according to the NAO.

NAO Comptroller and Auditor General Gareth Davies stated that the Home Office and other departments must utilize data more effectively to understand the impacts of modifications to the skilled worker visa route. This includes improving customer experiences and preventing the exploitation of visa holders. Without this understanding, the Home Office cannot ensure value for money in managing the visa system.

The NAO has urged the government to publish an evaluation of the Skilled Worker route within three months and complete an assessment of individuals’ situations at the end of their visa period by year-end. Ministries should collaborate with other government bodies to better understand how to address skills shortages, as advised by the watchdog.

A Home Office spokesperson said the government had already begun to implement many of the NAO’s recommendations, including deeper cooperation between departments, says report. “Under the Plan for Change, we will go further and publish a White Paper to restore order to our broken immigration system,” the spokesperson said. “This will link our immigration, skills and visa systems so we can grow our domestic workforce and end the reliance on overseas labour to boost economic growth.”

NAO Report Recommendations to Home Office

In 2025, the government intends to publish an Immigration white paper, including plans to reduce migration. It also announced that it will consider how to flex the visa system to continue to attract highly skilled workers to the UK to support economic growth. The government is seeking to link immigration and skills policies through the Migration Advisory Committee, Skills England, the Industrial Strategy Council and the Labour Market Advisory Board working together. NAO recommendations are intended to help the Home Office strengthen its stewardship of the Skilled Worker visa system to support a coherent approach. Other departments also have a role to play in developing sector-based skills strategies and providing evidence on the impacts of changes.

The Home Office should:

A) In the next six months, work with the Migration Advisory Committee, Skills England, the Industrial Strategy Council and Labour Market Advisory Board to establish an agreed methodological approach to better understand the role that immigration can play in addressing skills shortages across different sectors of the labour market. This should identify the data that are needed, how they will be collected, processed and brought together, and how the insights will be used to inform future changes to visa entry requirements so they are based on a thorough understanding of the potential impacts on labour markets and the risks posed by exploitation;

B) Improve its understanding of the extent to which the Skilled Worker visa route is meeting its objectives by:

• completing and publishing its evaluation of the Skilled Worker visa route within the next three months;
• complete an assessment of what happens to people at the end of their visa period by the end of 2025, five years after the route was introduced; and
• identify the data it needs – including from other departments – to allow it to better understand how the route is being used on an ongoing basis;

C) Improve efficiency and customer service by using an analysis of its existing management information on operational performance, including from customer surveys, contacts, complaints and appeals, to produce a service improvement plan that identifies service issues, actions to resolve them, and creates a new dashboard to provide a more complete view of service quality from a customer perspective – this might include devising a way to improve how customers are kept informed throughout the application process;

D) Strengthen its approach to tackling non-compliance with visa conditions and potential labour market abuses by:
• explicitly evaluating non-compliance risks when considering any expansion of the Skilled Worker visa route to include new occupations;
• reviewing sector-specific risk assessments every six months to develop and refresh its understanding of evolving non-compliance risks; and
• evaluating the effectiveness of different types of compliance interventions;

E) Before the end of 2025, work with relevant government agencies and stakeholders to establish new working arrangements to develop a more effective joined-up approach to tackling exploitation of visa holders.
Specifically, these should:
• identify ways to improve communication with overseas applicants to ensure that they have the necessary information on and support with the Skilled Worker visa route;
• review data-sharing arrangements with local authorities and HM Revenue & Customs to identify the refinements necessary to improve its ability to identify potential labour market abuses and improve safeguarding for people whose status is jeopardised by the cancellation of sponsor licences; and
• establish ways of working with the Fair Work Agency to improve labour market standards for migrants on Skilled Worker visas

900,000 foreigners have obtained skilled worker visas

Since its introduction in 2018 by the government of then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson, more than 900,000 foreigners have obtained skilled worker visas. The points-based system was framed as a means for the UK to exert greater control over its borders following the country’s departure from the European Union.

The significant rise in visa approvals has been a key factor in the UK’s historically high net migration rate, which peaked at 906,000 in the year ending mid-2023. The number of individuals settling permanently in the country rose by 80% between 2021 and 2024, while dependents entering the UK surged by 360% from 2021 to 2023.

The ongoing migration debate has posed significant challenges for Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose Labour government has pledged to reduce the influx of immigrants since his election in July. The issue of legal migration has become intertwined with concerns over an increase in asylum applications from individuals crossing the English Channel.

Starmer’s administration has come under fire on this issue from Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK party, which advocates for reducing net migration to zero. The opposition Conservative Party, led by Kemi Badenoch, has also adopted a tougher stance on immigration.

The skilled worker route enables businesses in industries with labor shortages to sponsor migrants, providing them with employment tied to the sponsoring employer. Following the UK’s departure from the EU, the makeup of new arrivals has shifted, with the majority originating from India and Nigeria, as the country’s employers seek healthcare professionals from beyond the European continent.

According to the National Audit Office (NAO), modifications to the visa route introduced under former Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in 2023 were made “with limited consultation or without full analysis of potential consequences for various industries and businesses.” These changes included prohibiting care workers from bringing dependents and increasing the minimum salary thresholds employers must pay when hiring migrant workers.

The amendments resulted in decreased utilization of the visa route by sectors such as social care, construction, and architecture—all industries facing a shortage of domestic workers. Evidence seen by Bloomberg suggests that companies across the UK care industry have been unlawfully charging their workers for the chance to enter the country. However, many workers feel unable to raise complaints since their right to remain in the UK is tied to their ongoing employment.

The NAO highlighted “widespread evidence of exploitation” of migrant workers in the care sector, including instances of trafficking, forced labor, debt bondage, underpayment of wages, and inappropriate working conditions. The report noted that the government’s approach to addressing these problems was not sufficiently coordinated.