Government has no idea how many stay in UK on expired visas, MPs claim

The revelations will come as a major headache for Yvette Cooper, who is trying to persuade voters she can get a grip on illegal migration (House of Commons/UK Parliament)

- MILLIE COOKE POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

The government has failed to gather basic information such as whether people leave the UK after their visas expire or how many might have stayed to work illegally, the chair of a cross-party committee of MPs said.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which examines the value for money of government projects, said the Home Office had failed to analyse exit checks since the skilled worker visa route was introduced by the Tories in 2020.

Some 1.18 million people applied to come to the UK on this route – designed to attract skilled workers in the wake of Brexit - between its launch in December of that year and the end of 2024. Around 630,000 of those were dependents of the main visa applicant.

But the PAC said there is both a lack of knowledge around what people do when their visas expire and that the expansion of the route in 2022 to attract staff for the struggling social care sector led to the exploitation of some migrant workers.

Its report said there was “widespread evidence of workers suffering debt bondage, working excessive hours and exploitative conditions”, but added there is “no reliable data on the extent of abuses”.

It noted that the fact that a person’s right to remain in the UK is dependent on their employer under the sponsorship model means migrant workers are “vulnerable to exploitation”. While the problems began under the previous Conservative government, the revelations will come as a major headache for Yvette Cooper, who is trying to persuade voters she can get a grip on illegal migration.

The revelation comes just days after new figures showed that a record number of people have crossed the Channel in small boats in the first six months of this year, despite Sir Keir Starmer’s pledge to “smash” the smuggling gangs.