Post by notoriousnobbi on Mar 26, 2024 16:57:46 GMT
Somewhere we already had this news
Sacked UK borders inspector tells MPs he was removed ‘for doing his job’
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/feb/27/sacked-uk-borders-inspector-tells-mps-removed-doing-job-david-neal
Now the official report is out!
An inspection of the immigration system as it relates to the social care sector
(August 2023 to November 2023)
www.gov.uk/government/publications/an-inspection-of-the-immigration-system-as-it-relates-to-the-social-care-sector-august-2023-to-november-2023
(about 80 pages, less than 2 MB)
Tipp: You don't have to read all pages, the foreword (2 pages) alone are damning enough
...
This inspection report details the consequences of the Home Office’s limited understanding of the social care sector, its underestimation of demand for the Care Worker visa, the inappropriateness of its sponsor licensing regime for low-skilled roles, and the mismatch between its meagre complement
of compliance officers and ever-expanding register of licensed sponsors. There are echoes of previous inspections that have highlighted the consequences of the Home Office’s failure to accurately forecast,
such as small boat arrivals. Fundamentally, the Home Office selected a route that was designed for a largely compliant sector and applied it to a high-risk area – migration into an atomised and poorly paidsector is miles away from the recruitment of highly skilled workers being sponsored by multinational corporations. This should have been obvious to Home Office policymakers.
The net effect of these mistakes is that the Home Office created a system that invited large numbers of low-skilled workers to this country who are at risk from exploitation. Moreover, its control measures to mitigate the risk were totally inadequate.
There is just one compliance officer for every 1,600 employers licensed to sponsor migrant workers.
This report details the shocking results of the policy’s implementation, including the case of 275 certificates of sponsorship being granted to a care home that did not exist, and 1,234 certificates being granted to a company that stated it had only four employees when given a licence. In just these two examples, up to 1,500 people could have arrived in this country and been encouraged by a risk of hardship or destitution to work outside the conditions of their visa. While the inspection does not detail the extent of this abuse, my inspectors encountered migrants with care visas working illegally in two out of eight enforcement visits they observed during my inspection of illegal working enforcement (August - October 2023)
...
What worries me most is that the Home Office does not appear to have any process to identify the lessons from this debacle and then bring those lessons into core thinking in order that they are not repeated. No formal review of the relevant policy changes has been conducted. Sadly, this is a pattern that inspectors identify in far too many inspections. Accountability for failure is all too often lacking.
While ministers are ultimately responsible, they depend upon the advice of senior leaders within the Home Office; once more this advice has either been ignored or has proved to be poor.
When this report is published, its findings will doubtlessly be explained away. The remedial measures I have mentioned will be highlighted despite their remarkable slowness in coming. Such a response should not be allowed to distract from the damage that has already been done and a reflexive, defensive response should not prevent a critical examination of what has gone wrong here.
...
Comments by Adam Bienkov on X
Comments by Edwin Hayward on X
Sacked UK borders inspector tells MPs he was removed ‘for doing his job’
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/feb/27/sacked-uk-borders-inspector-tells-mps-removed-doing-job-david-neal
Now the official report is out!
An inspection of the immigration system as it relates to the social care sector
(August 2023 to November 2023)
www.gov.uk/government/publications/an-inspection-of-the-immigration-system-as-it-relates-to-the-social-care-sector-august-2023-to-november-2023
(about 80 pages, less than 2 MB)
Tipp: You don't have to read all pages, the foreword (2 pages) alone are damning enough
...
This inspection report details the consequences of the Home Office’s limited understanding of the social care sector, its underestimation of demand for the Care Worker visa, the inappropriateness of its sponsor licensing regime for low-skilled roles, and the mismatch between its meagre complement
of compliance officers and ever-expanding register of licensed sponsors. There are echoes of previous inspections that have highlighted the consequences of the Home Office’s failure to accurately forecast,
such as small boat arrivals. Fundamentally, the Home Office selected a route that was designed for a largely compliant sector and applied it to a high-risk area – migration into an atomised and poorly paidsector is miles away from the recruitment of highly skilled workers being sponsored by multinational corporations. This should have been obvious to Home Office policymakers.
The net effect of these mistakes is that the Home Office created a system that invited large numbers of low-skilled workers to this country who are at risk from exploitation. Moreover, its control measures to mitigate the risk were totally inadequate.
There is just one compliance officer for every 1,600 employers licensed to sponsor migrant workers.
This report details the shocking results of the policy’s implementation, including the case of 275 certificates of sponsorship being granted to a care home that did not exist, and 1,234 certificates being granted to a company that stated it had only four employees when given a licence. In just these two examples, up to 1,500 people could have arrived in this country and been encouraged by a risk of hardship or destitution to work outside the conditions of their visa. While the inspection does not detail the extent of this abuse, my inspectors encountered migrants with care visas working illegally in two out of eight enforcement visits they observed during my inspection of illegal working enforcement (August - October 2023)
...
What worries me most is that the Home Office does not appear to have any process to identify the lessons from this debacle and then bring those lessons into core thinking in order that they are not repeated. No formal review of the relevant policy changes has been conducted. Sadly, this is a pattern that inspectors identify in far too many inspections. Accountability for failure is all too often lacking.
While ministers are ultimately responsible, they depend upon the advice of senior leaders within the Home Office; once more this advice has either been ignored or has proved to be poor.
When this report is published, its findings will doubtlessly be explained away. The remedial measures I have mentioned will be highlighted despite their remarkable slowness in coming. Such a response should not be allowed to distract from the damage that has already been done and a reflexive, defensive response should not prevent a critical examination of what has gone wrong here.
...
Comments by Adam Bienkov on X
...
The government has just published this damning report by its former borders chief just as Sunak leaves Liaison Committee. It finds
- Migrant care worker checks are inadequate
- Widespread visa abuse
- Workers open to destitution and slavery
- No Govt accountability for failures
New era of accountability latest.
Rishi Sunak's spokesman says they now won't publish a long-delayed damning report by the sacked independent Chief Inspector of Borders David Neil until one hour after Rishi Sunak sits down today for questions from the Liaison Committee of MPs.
The government has just published this damning report by its former borders chief just as Sunak leaves Liaison Committee. It finds
- Migrant care worker checks are inadequate
- Widespread visa abuse
- Workers open to destitution and slavery
- No Govt accountability for failures
New era of accountability latest.
Rishi Sunak's spokesman says they now won't publish a long-delayed damning report by the sacked independent Chief Inspector of Borders David Neil until one hour after Rishi Sunak sits down today for questions from the Liaison Committee of MPs.
Comments by Edwin Hayward on X
The net effect of these mistakes is that the Home Office created a system that invited large numbers of low-skilled workers to this country who are at risk from exploitation. Moreover, its control measures to mitigate the risk were totally inadequate."