The latest immigration statistics published by the Home Office reveal a huge rise in the numbers of employers losing their licence to sponsor migrant workers.
In the second quarter of 2024 some 1,023 skilled worker licences were suspended (524) or revoked (499). Last year’s figure for the same quarter was 117 suspended (89) or revoked (28).
Vanessa Ganguin, managing partner at Vanessa Ganguin Immigration Law, said this was “an unprecedented leap in enforcement action”.
Immigration law specialists agree there has been an increase in Home Office enforcement activity in recent months, including both sponsorship compliance and also illegal working raids.
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The release of the figures follows Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, announcing measures this week to “boost border security,” including “a range of sanctions, including financial penalty notices, business closure orders and potential prosecution … against those employing illegal workers”.
Ganguin said that these had largely been aimed at sectors such as beauticians and nail salons. She added: “We have also seen the care sector targeted following an extremely critical report on visa management in the sector by the Independent Chief Inspector for Borders and Immigration last year. But no sector can afford to be complacent.”
Chetal Patel, head of immigration at Bates Wells, said that “rogue sponsors were rightly facing the wrath of the Home Office”.
She added there was a crackdown under way in the care sector, “where there have been growing concerns over of exploitation and modern slavery”.
However, Patel said there had been a notable uptick in organisations being registered as sponsors for work, with a 48% increase compared with last year. “So this may have had a knock on impact on more suspensions and revocations.” Overall, she said, the latest Home Office figures revealed more organisations than ever relying on sponsor licences to hire the talent they require.
Ganguin noted that the ability to sponsor migrant staff could be business-critical for many employers, “so to avoid a suspension or revocation of their licence, employers must ensure they are on top of the Home Office’s latest guidance on licence compliance and management and that they keep up to date with relevant changes in the status of sponsored employees”.
Even genuine mistakes can cause sponsors big problems, said Ganguin. “If in doubt, employers should seek legal advice and also carry out a regular audit of their compliance systems.”
Patel added that sponsorship was not a tick-box process and sponsors should ensure they have policies and procedures in place to comply with their sponsor duties. These should be tested to ensure that the systems remain fit for purpose.
Yash Dubal, director of A Y & J Solicitors said the more hawkish approach on sponsorship was of a piece with the policy of reducing immigration: “The measures introduced by the previous government are having the desired effect but whether they are helping businesses remains to be seen. Sectors which need overseas workers to fill shortages will struggle as it becomes harder to find workers, especially in the health and care sector where the reductions in work visa allocations and applications has been profound and where migrant workers are vital.
“Other sectors which have seen a reduction in the number of eligible overseas applicants applying for their vacancies now face a wait while domestic workers are trained and skilled-up to fill those roles, as per Labour’s domestic skills and training policy.”
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