The recently-published Immigration White Paper sets out the Government's plans to introduce new controls in order to reduce the number of people coming into the country, including through tightening the rules on visas for skilled workers.
The Skilled Worker visa was introduced in 2021 following the UK's exit from the European Union. It is the main immigration route for people to apply to work in the Uk and allows Uk employers to sponsor overseas workers in eligible roles, provided they meet certain criteria.
As the recent National Audit Office report on skilled worker visas highlights, the number of people applying for visas has increased significantly since it was introduced, with the Home Office issuing 931,000 visas within the first three years, compared to the 360,000 it expected.
The Government's original intention was for the recruitment of overseas workers to complement initiatives to grow the domestic labour market. However, to date there has been limited collaboration between departments on immigration and skills policies.
The Government's new measures will see skills thresholds for work visas raised to degree level, increased salary thresholds, and tougher requirements for English language proficiency. It also plans to close the route to new applications from social care workers.
The Government has also announced plans to raise the immigration skills surcharge by 32% to help fund the development of skills in the domestic workforce. Our work showed that this surcharge raised £700 million in 2023-24 but also found that it was unclear how this money was being spent – it was paid in to the Treasury but did not flow to the Department for Education.
The Government's original intention was for the recruitment of overseas workers to complement initiatives to grow the domestic labour market. However, to date there has been limited collaboration between departments on immigration and skills policies.
While we recognise the benefits of having a flexible, responsive system, our work underlines the importance of changes to that system being based on a sound understanding of the potential impacts and risks. Too often this wasn't the case.
Changes to tighten entry requirements in 2024 were made with limited consultation and analysis of the potential consequences. And the expansion of the route to include care workers in 2022 was not supported by a thorough risk assessment to understand, for example, how it might affect the risks of people entering the UK for the wrong reasons or sponsors exploiting workers. The Home Office was slow to respond to the risks that did materialise.
It is particularly important that the Home Office understands the potential impact of changes across different sectors and regions. Our work highlighted marked regional variations in how the Skilled Worker route was being used, with much less use in the North East for example. But the Home Office was not doing all it could to use the available data to understand and manage this.
Our report recommended that the Home Office quickly establish an approach to better understanding the role that migration can play in addressing skills shortages. In announcing the formation of the Labour Market Evidence Group, the government has acknowledged the need for a stronger evidence base upon which to make decisions, and closer integration of workforce skills strategies and migration policy.
The Government has also announced plans to raise the immigration skills surcharge by 32% to help fund the development of skills in the domestic workforce. Our work showed that this surcharge raised £700 million in 2023-24 but also found that it was unclear how this money was being spent – it was paid in to the Treasury but did not flow to the Department for Education.
We also call for a more joined up approach to tackling the exploitation of visa holders. There is widespread evidence of exploitation in the care sector, including debt bondage, long working hours, and exploitative conditions. Our report found that although the Home Office was initially slow to act, it has since strengthened its approach. There is, however, more to do, and the government has committed to explore further reforms to the sponsorship system. It is critical that workers are protected through more effective compliance checks and increased collaboration across departments and local authorities.
Oliver Lodge is director at the National Audit Office
