UK Government Faces Scrutiny Over Failure to
Track Foreign
Track Foreign Workers After Visas Expire
The Home Office lacks crucial data on whether foreign workers are leaving the UK or staying illegally after their visas expire, a cross-party committee of MPs has warned.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which oversees government spending, said the Home Office has failed to properly analyze exit checks since the Skilled Worker Visa route was introduced in 2020. Between December 2020 and the end of 2024, around 1.18 million people applied to come to the UK through this system.
The Home Office acknowledged inheriting a "broken immigration system" and said it was working to "repair the public’s trust."
System Expansion & Lack of Oversight
The Skilled Worker Visa replaced the Tier 2 (General) work visa post-Brexit. In 2022, the Conservative government expanded the route to address labour shortages in health and social care, contributing to record-high net migration.
However, the PAC accused the Home Office of failing to gather "basic information" on whether visa holders leave the UK when their permits expire. The committee also criticized the department for showing "little curiosity" about how the system was functioning.
The report revealed that the Home Office still relies on airline passenger records to track departures but has not analyzed this data since 2020. It called for stronger measures to monitor exits.
Exploitation & Slow Reforms
The report also highlighted "widespread evidence" of migrant workers facing debt bondage, excessive hours, and exploitative conditions, accusing the Home Office of being "slow and ineffective" in tackling abuse.
In May, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to end overseas recruitment for care workers to curb migration. She admitted the current system "hasn’t been strong enough" but said reforms take time.
"Change doesn’t happen at the flick of a switch," she said, echoing Keir Starmer’s past remarks. When pressed on when the government could accurately track entries and exits, Cooper said "a lot of that system is now in place."
The government plans to introduce workplace biometric checks (such as fingerprint scans) to verify legal work status. "We're going to go substantially further," Cooper added.
Experts Raise Concerns
Dr. Madeleine Sumption, Director of Oxford’s Migration Observatory, warned that the Home Office lacks transparency in helping migrants transition to new jobs.
"Their process, so far, doesn't seem to have been hugely effective," she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, predicting the issue would persist.
Home Office Response
A Home Office spokesperson said the report confirmed that "relaxing visa controls five years ago drove unprecedented net migration."
They highlighted recent actions, including:
Suspending a record number of skilled worker sponsor licenses
Raising the Skilled Worker salary threshold
Ending overseas care worker recruitment
"With our Immigration Whitepaper, we will deliver lower net migration, higher skills, and restore public trust," the spokesperson said.
The findings underscore ongoing challenges in managing migration while preventing exploitation—a balancing act the new government must address.