Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the conclusions of the Independent Review of the Overseas Domestic Workers Visa by James Ewins, published on 16 December 2015, relating to protection of employment rights of migrant workers in private households, if he will (a) review and (b) reverse changes to the rules for that visa.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office keeps immigration route policy under review, including that for the Overseas Domestic Worker route. We have introduced a number of reforms to the route for overseas domestic workers since 2015; designed to build on existing safeguards and in line with the broader immigration system. Employers of overseas domestic workers must act in accordance with UK employment law, and workers who find themselves a victim of modern slavery are protected by the National Referral Mechanism and may be eligible to apply for permission to stay as a domestic worker who is a victim of modern slavery.
Written Evidence May. 14 2024
Inquiry: Modern Slavery Act 2015Found: MSA0068 - Modern Slavery Act 2015 Office of the Director of Labour Market Enforcement Written Evidence
Asked by: Lord Sahota (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the care system, care employers, and immigrant care workers of the loss of employers’ visa sponsorship licences; and what advice they give to care workers whose employers have lost their visa sponsorship licence and cannot, therefore, sponsor the renewal of their visa.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Any decision to revoke a sponsor’s licence will only be done in circumstances where a sponsor has failed to meet the obligations and duties of being a sponsor such as ensuring workers are being paid the correct salary and given guaranteed work. Even then, this will only be where other action, such as an action plan to improve processes and compliance, would not be appropriate.
Displaced migrant workers are able to seek alternative employment providing they have a job offer from a Home Office approved sponsor and make a new application.
Mar. 26 2024
Source Page: An inspection of the immigration system as it relates to the social care sector (August 2023 to November 2023)Found: documents for sponsor applications’, p. 7. 66 Home Office, ‘Workers and Temporary Workers: sponsor a
Written Evidence May. 14 2024
Inquiry: Modern Slavery Act 2015Found: modern slavery is no longer a Home Office priority.
Mentions:
1: Harper, Emma (SNP - South Scotland) A recent report, from April last year, on seasonal migrant workers in Scottish agriculture found that - Speech Link
2: Gougeon, Mairi (SNP - Angus North and Mearns) Scottish employers are increasingly dependent on migrant workers for a growing proportion of their workforce - Speech Link
3: Balfour, Jeremy (Con - Lothian) the Scottish Government whether it has followed the advice issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office - Speech Link
4: Gilruth, Jenny (SNP - Mid Fife and Glenrothes) the past year or so, my officials have had a series of meetings with the Information Commissioner’s Office - Speech Link
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2024 to Question 9608, what steps he is taking to improve conditions for migrant workers on the Seasonal Worker Scheme since May 2022.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office keeps all aspects of the Seasonal Worker route under ongoing review and works closely with DEFRA to monitor the scheme to ensure operators adhere to the stringent requirements set for ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the seasonal workers. This includes changes made on 12th April 2023, introducing rules ensuring seasonal workers are guaranteed a minimum number of 32 hours’ paid work each week. We have also increased UKVI compliance capacity to monitor welfare.
The operators of the scheme are, and must remain, licensed by the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA).
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of the removal of (a) overseas and (b) senior care workers’ rights to bring dependants on main applicant flows for the health and social care visa.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We expect social care visa volumes will remain resilient to removing the eligibility for new care and senior care workers to bring dependants. This is in the context of a strong global labour supply, possible changes in migrant behaviour in response, and that a proportion of recruits are estimated to already come without dependants. The Home Office has published estimates of the impact these changes might have on the number of people applying to work in the sector from outside the United Kingdom, which are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/legal-migration-statement-estimated-immigration-impacts
Mentions:
1: Tim Farron (LD - Westmorland and Lonsdale) That includes treating migrant workers well. - Speech Link
2: Helen Whately (Con - Faversham and Mid Kent) For staff from overseas, the Home Office sets English language proficiency requirements. - Speech Link