Less than a third of work visas handed out in the last three years have gone to highly-skilled professionals required to boost Britain’s economy, a new report has warned.
The UK visa system is ‘unfit for purpose’ and should be reformed to allow more highly-skilled workers to come here, a business consultancy firm said.
Its analysis of Home Office data showed that in the four years to the end of 2024, 32 per cent of work visas – just under 181,000 of a total of about 560,000 – were allocated to experts in eight key fields.
The areas were those identified by the Government as ‘growth-driving sectors’ which are crucial to Britain’s economic prospects, business expansion specialist Centuro Global said.
For example, although 133,000 more workers are needed by 2030 in the life sciences sector, only 16,000 visas were issued for highly skilled professionals with such skills in the last four years, the report said
Other sectors examined by the report include financial services, advanced manufacturing, defence, clean energy industries, creative industries and the digital and technology sector.
Zain Ali, chief executive of Centuro Global, said: ‘The UK’s visa system is unfit for purpose and fails to differentiate between roles critical to our economy and those that could be filled domestically.
‘As it stands currently, the skilled worker visa route covers too broad a swathe of possible occupations.
‘The restrictions already placed on this visa route have harmed firms’ ability to hire for particularly specialised roles.’
Last week the Mail highlighted how the Home Office’s skilled worker visa list includes market traders, dog groomers, curtain fitters and ‘teachers of English as a secondary language’.
Labour has rejected Tory plans for a cap on the total number of migrant visas issued each year.
Instead, the Government plans to encourage employers to hire from the pool of employees already here – and suggests that as a result immigration will naturally fall.
Quangos will work together to boost training levels and ensure the jobless have skills that are required by employers, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has said.
But Mr Ali said: ‘Domestic training initiatives are highly unlikely to fill this gap.
‘We propose the creation of a new specialist visa, limited to foreign nationals with the rarefied skillsets these industries need.’
The report said changes to the skilled worker visa a year ago had ‘made it more challenging and expensive to hire through this route’.
The Conservatives brought in restrictions including a higher salary threshold amid concern over record levels of net migration – the difference between long-term migrants arriving in Britain and those emigrating – which hit 906,000 in the 12 months to the end of June 2023.
In the following year it fell 20 per cent to 728,000 thanks to the Tory measures – but it remains high compared with pre-pandemic levels of a typical 300,000 a year.
Latest net migration figures are due to be published by the Office for National Statistics next month.
Centuro Global’s report said any further limits on visas would ‘also hinder high-value firms’ access to genuinely scarce skill sets’.
It suggested a new ‘growth visa’ should be set up to prioritise overseas candidates for key industries.
The visa should require a minimum of a bachelor’s degree or equivalent, it proposed.
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘Under the last government there were a large volume of visas were granted seeing net migration in the millions.
‘This government is getting a grip of this problem.
‘Under our Plan for Change, our upcoming Immigration White Paper will set out a comprehensive plan to restore order to our broken immigration system, linking immigration, skills and visa systems to grow our domestic workforce, end reliance on overseas labour and boost economic growth.’