Govt visa changes lost sight of risk of exploitation of migrant workers, PAC report finds

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Changes to visas by the Home Office failed to properly consider the risks of non-compliance with visa rules and exploitation of migrant workers. In a report on the skilled worker visa route, which was opened up to help the social care sector during the pandemic, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is not convinced by the Home Office's approach to meeting its responsibility for preventing modern slavery, with separate areas of weakness around whether people are complying with the terms of their visas.

The Skilled Worker visa system is based on a sponsorship model where a migrant’s right to remain in the UK is dependent on their employer. This reliance makes migrant workers vulnerable to exploitation. There is widespread evidence of workers suffering debt bondage, working excessive hours and exploitative conditions, with multiple organisations providing written evidence to the PAC’s inquiry highlighting the problems in the current system.

When the Home Office expanded the visa route in 2022, it identified evidence of exploitation of migrant care workers but was initially slow to respond. The PAC’s report notes it does not know how many people with skilled worker visas had been referred as potential victims of modern slavery. It is also not clear whether arrangements to safeguard care workers whose employers' sponsor licence has been revoked are working effectively. Sufficient action has not been taken to prevent exploitation in applicants' home countries and identify bogus agents overseas who charge applicants unnecessary fees or claim to be able to find them work in the UK.

The report recommends that the Home Office work across government to establish an agreed response to tackling exploitation.

The PAC has further found that the Home Office does not understand the extent to which people are complying with the terms of their visa and leaving the UK when they should. Neither does it understand, the report finds, whether those who have lost their sponsorship are taken on by other sponsors or what happens to people at the end of their visa. The Home Office has not analysed exit checks since the route was introduced, and does not know what proportion of people return to their home country after their visa has expired, and how many may be working illegally in the UK.

The PAC is calling on government to fully assess how it tackles non-compliance, including what measures are in place or will be put in place to record when people leave the country.

The report notes government’s recent announcement ending the overseas recruitment of care workers, as part of efforts to reduce net migration. The PAC is concerned about the potential impacts of this decision for the care sector in light of expected increasing demand in the next decade. The forthcoming NHS 10-year plan could address the lack of parity in pay and conditions between the NHS and social care, making it easier to recruit more domestic workers in this sector. The report asks for an update on how domestic workforce plans are being used to help address skill shortages.

Chair comment

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, Chair of the Committee, said: “Government moved swiftly to open up the visa system to help the social care system cope during the pandemic. From when the government opened the Skilled Worker visa route in December 2020 up to the end of 2024, 1.18m people applied to enter the UK. Our report finds that this speed came at a painfully high cost – to the safety of workers from the depredations of labour market abuses, and the integrity of the system from people not following the rules. There has long been mounting evidence of serious issues with the system, laid bare once again in our inquiry. And yet basic information, such as how many people on skilled worker visas have been modern slavery victims, and whether people leave the UK after their visas expire, seems to still not have been gathered by government.

“Further changes are now underway in this system, with an end to the overseas recruitment of care workers. Without effective cross-government working, there is a risk that these changes will exacerbate challenges for the care sector. Government now needs to develop a deeper understanding of the role that immigration plays in sector workforce strategies, as well as how domestic workforce plans will help address skills shortages. Government no longer has the excuse of the global crisis caused by the pandemic if it operates this system on the fly, and without due care.”  

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