Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have for auditing the appropriateness and legality of the skilled worker visa route for those individuals specifically sponsored by (1) vape shops, (2) other retail shops, and (3) micro businesses with sponsorship status.

The changes in the Immigration White Paper (July 2025) relating to Skilled Workers, significantly reduced the number of roles eligible to qualify for a visa related to high street retailers. This means that these Sponsor Licence holders are no longer able to bring in overseas workers to work in lower skilled roles associated with retail.

A Micro-business could cut across numerous sectors and therefore their ability to recruit specific roles will be dependent on the skill level of the role they wish to sponsor.

We routinely check the compliance of licensed sponsors and will remove their licences where non-compliance is proven. Since this Government has come to power, we have revoked record numbers of sponsor licences.