The number of skilled worker sponsor licence suspensions and revocations has markedly increased in the first quarter of 2024, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (13 June).
Between January and March 2024, the Home Office suspended 309 skilled worker sponsor licences and revoked 210. This represents a much higher level of activity than at any point since Brexit.
The uptick in licences being revoked is linked to changes around visas for care workers, explained Vanessa Ganguin, managing partner at Vanessa Ganguin Immigration Law.
She told HR magazine: “A large driver in increased licence suspensions and revocations is likely to be the situation for sponsored visas in the care sector, which have seen record numbers since Brexit.”
From March 2024, care providers in England were told that they could not sponsor new care workers under the skilled worker route unless they are registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). From the same date, newly sponsored carers could no longer bring their family members to the UK.
The measures follow a report from David Neal, former independent chief inspector of borders and immigration (ICIBI), which described the implementation of care visas as “shocking”.
It found a case of 275 certificates of sponsorship being granted to a care home that did not exist, and 1,234 certificates being granted to a company that stated it had only four employees when given a licence.
“This extremely critical report on visa management in the sector was filed with the Home Office last year, but the Home Office then withheld it from publication, before eventually publishing the report at a time they could take credit for having already taken steps to fix it,” Ganguin said.
She added: “The home secretary announced additional requirements for sponsors in the care sector in England to be regulated by the CQC, which is likely to have led to numerous suspensions and revocations once the new rules came in from 11 March 2024.”
The data also shows that 48,023 decisions were made in the year ending March 2024, compared with 30,295 in the year ending March 2023.
Of these decisions, 37,197 licences were granted (61% higher than the year before), and 10,826 were not granted (including both applications withdrawn and those rejected).
Ganguin said: “It’s also worth noting that there have been significant increases in the number of organisations registered for sponsor licences, with a 22% increase in skilled worker licences in the last six months alone, so more licences may also have led to more revocations.”
Read the full article in HR Magazine
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