Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many sponsoring employers in the care sector had their sponsorship licence revoked in each year between 2022 to 2024; and what information her Department holds on the number of overseas care workers who have become unemployed following the revocation of their employer's sponsorship licence in that time period.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The Home Office does not routinely publish data on sponsor revocations for specific sectors. However, between July 2022 and December 2024, the government revoked more than 470 sponsor licences in the care sector to clampdown on abuse and exploitation. More than 39,000 workers have been associated with these sponsors since October 2020.

From our analysis we believe that up to 10,000 of these individuals are now in alternative sponsored work within the Health and Care sector.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department of 22 January 2025, Official Report, column 414WH, how many displaced international care workers whose sponsor’s licence had not been revoked have been supported by regional partnerships since they were established.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

In 2024/25, £16 million has been made available through the adult social care international recruitment fund for 15 regional and sub-regional partnerships to prevent and respond to exploitative practices of internationally recruited care staff. Between July 2024 and February 2025, approximately 8,800 people have contacted the regional partnerships for support. To date, approximately 550 of these individuals have been supported into new employment, according to self-reported data provided by the regional partnerships. This data has not been independently verified by the Department or UK Visas and Immigration. We do not hold data on the number of care workers supported into new employment whose sponsor has not had their licence revoked.

A primary aim of the 2024/25 fund is to facilitate in-country matching of overseas recruits who have been displaced by unethical practices or by their employer’s sponsorship licence being revoked. However, in some instances, regions are also providing support to care workers not impacted by sponsor licence revocation. To support regional partnerships, we have published guidance on implementing the aims of the fund, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-recruitment-fund-for-the-adult-social-care-sector-2024-to-2025/international-recruitment-fund-for-the-adult-social-care-sector-2024-to-2025-guidance-for-local-authorities

We have commissioned the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Policy Research Unit in Health and Social Care Workforce to undertake an independent evaluation of the 2024/25 international recruitment regional fund. We expect the final report of this evaluation to be published by King's College London in 2026.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral contribution by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department on 22 January 2025, Official Report, column 414WH, what guidance his Department has provided to regional partnerships for supporting international care workers on ensuring they offer assistance to all care workers.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

In 2024/25, £16 million has been made available through the adult social care international recruitment fund for 15 regional and sub-regional partnerships to prevent and respond to exploitative practices of internationally recruited care staff. Between July 2024 and February 2025, approximately 8,800 people have contacted the regional partnerships for support. To date, approximately 550 of these individuals have been supported into new employment, according to self-reported data provided by the regional partnerships. This data has not been independently verified by the Department or UK Visas and Immigration. We do not hold data on the number of care workers supported into new employment whose sponsor has not had their licence revoked.

A primary aim of the 2024/25 fund is to facilitate in-country matching of overseas recruits who have been displaced by unethical practices or by their employer’s sponsorship licence being revoked. However, in some instances, regions are also providing support to care workers not impacted by sponsor licence revocation. To support regional partnerships, we have published guidance on implementing the aims of the fund, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-recruitment-fund-for-the-adult-social-care-sector-2024-to-2025/international-recruitment-fund-for-the-adult-social-care-sector-2024-to-2025-guidance-for-local-authorities

We have commissioned the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Policy Research Unit in Health and Social Care Workforce to undertake an independent evaluation of the 2024/25 international recruitment regional fund. We expect the final report of this evaluation to be published by King's College London in 2026.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the regional partnerships financed by the international recruitment fund for the adult social care sector; whether he plans to publish an evaluation of the project.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

In 2024/25, £16 million has been made available through the adult social care international recruitment fund for 15 regional and sub-regional partnerships to prevent and respond to exploitative practices of internationally recruited care staff. Between July 2024 and February 2025, approximately 8,800 people have contacted the regional partnerships for support. To date, approximately 550 of these individuals have been supported into new employment, according to self-reported data provided by the regional partnerships. This data has not been independently verified by the Department or UK Visas and Immigration. We do not hold data on the number of care workers supported into new employment whose sponsor has not had their licence revoked.

A primary aim of the 2024/25 fund is to facilitate in-country matching of overseas recruits who have been displaced by unethical practices or by their employer’s sponsorship licence being revoked. However, in some instances, regions are also providing support to care workers not impacted by sponsor licence revocation. To support regional partnerships, we have published guidance on implementing the aims of the fund, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-recruitment-fund-for-the-adult-social-care-sector-2024-to-2025/international-recruitment-fund-for-the-adult-social-care-sector-2024-to-2025-guidance-for-local-authorities

We have commissioned the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Policy Research Unit in Health and Social Care Workforce to undertake an independent evaluation of the 2024/25 international recruitment regional fund. We expect the final report of this evaluation to be published by King's College London in 2026.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many international social care workers have (a) had contact with the regional partnerships financed by the international recruitment fund for the adult social care sector and (b) been assisted into new employment by those partnerships.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

In 2024/25, £16 million has been made available through the adult social care international recruitment fund for 15 regional and sub-regional partnerships to prevent and respond to exploitative practices of internationally recruited care staff. Between July 2024 and February 2025, approximately 8,800 people have contacted the regional partnerships for support. To date, approximately 550 of these individuals have been supported into new employment, according to self-reported data provided by the regional partnerships. This data has not been independently verified by the Department or UK Visas and Immigration. We do not hold data on the number of care workers supported into new employment whose sponsor has not had their licence revoked.

A primary aim of the 2024/25 fund is to facilitate in-country matching of overseas recruits who have been displaced by unethical practices or by their employer’s sponsorship licence being revoked. However, in some instances, regions are also providing support to care workers not impacted by sponsor licence revocation. To support regional partnerships, we have published guidance on implementing the aims of the fund, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-recruitment-fund-for-the-adult-social-care-sector-2024-to-2025/international-recruitment-fund-for-the-adult-social-care-sector-2024-to-2025-guidance-for-local-authorities

We have commissioned the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Policy Research Unit in Health and Social Care Workforce to undertake an independent evaluation of the 2024/25 international recruitment regional fund. We expect the final report of this evaluation to be published by King's College London in 2026.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of enabling energy networks to access a dedicated radio spectrum for enhanced operational communications.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Ofcom is responsible for the management of spectrum in the UK, including allocating spectrum. My officials are working with those in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and with regulators to establish and assess the evidence base for the future telecommunications requirements of the energy, water and transport sectors.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help improve the water quality of Dymchurch and St Mary’s Bay.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Environment Agency (EA) takes statutory samples and ensures compliance with the requirements of the Bathing Water Regulations. They collect investigative samples and analyse the results alongside other environmental data to help identify sources of pollution.

Dymchurch and St Marys Bay are priority bathing waters for local EA teams this year. No single source of pollution has been identified at these locations. The EA will continue to work with others including the water company, the local authority and communities to improve and protect water quality by identifying and stopping polluting inputs.

Water quality improvements at St. Marys Bay last year saw a return to ‘sufficient’ classification. This bathing water no longer has advice against bathing status, however there is still work to do to ensure water quality continues to improve.

The EA has worked in partnership with Southern Water to find and eliminate possible sources of contamination from their network, including misconnections. Southern Water has completed extensive checks of their sewerage infrastructure and have rectified issues throughout the investigations.

The EA encourages local communities to report pollution incidents that could be impacting bathing, surface or groundwater to their 24/7 incident hotline so they can respond and stop any pollution.

British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme